Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Other Half of Macroeconomics and the Fate of Globalization

This work argues that there are actually two parts to macroeconomics but only one part where the private sector is maximizing profits is taught in universities. But for the private sector to be maximizing profits, it has to have clean balance sheets and attractive domestic investment opportunities. The bursting of the bubble in 2008 destroyed millions of balance sheets on both sides of the Atlantic, and businesses have been discovering for years before 2008 that the return on capital is much higher in emerging economies than in advanced economies. This book argues that once the fundamental and inevitable changes taking place in advanced countries are understood, it is possible to devise appropriate policy response to slow growth and inflation in these economies.
Life history plasticity in chimaeras of the colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri

Colonies of the ascidian Botryllus schlosseri may fuse with kin to form chimaeras which vary their life histories depending on environmental conditions. We placed chimaeric colonies of this species in Monterey Bay, California, U. S. A. , where they received planktonic food continuously. In the field, chimaeras grew rapidly, attained large sizes, and produced m any eggs. They formed compact disc-shaped colonies in which genotypic composition remained stable throughout their lifespan. In most cases, genotypic partners in held chimaeras senesced and died synchronously. We also cultured genetically identical replicates of the same chimaeras under laboratory conditions, where they were fed once daily. In the laboratory environment, chimaeras grew slowly, shrank, and fragmented. Most genotypes in chimaeric colonies produced significantly fewer zooids and eggs in the laboratory than they did in the field. Somatic cell parasitism, in the form of resorption of tissues of one genotype by the other, occurred mainly in the laboratory environment, and not in the field. The phenomenon of resorption may thus be a dispensible strategy of fused genotypes depending on environmental conditions. Genotypes in held chimaeras may grow and reproduce rapidly because of the non-limiting food resources available. These data demonstrate that chimaeras of B. schlosseri have extremely plastic life histories, and employ different strategies depending on the environment.
Passive reflectors as a means for extending UHF signals down intersecting cross cuts in mines or large corridors

Tests of communication between hand held two watt UHF transceivers in a room and pillar limestone mine were satisfactory for several thousand feet through straight haulage ways but the range of communication at right angles to the haulage way into intersecting cross cuts was quite limited. It was evident that the radiation from the transceivers was not being reflected by the limestone pillars into the intersecting cross cuts. Two passive aluminum reflectors, each four feet square were installed near the ceiling and positioned 45° with respect to the axis at an intersection of a main haulage way and a cross cut. The range of communications down the intersecting cross cut was significantly extended. Propagation measurements on 450 and 850 MHz in the same mine demonstrated that passive reflectors are a practical and inexpensive means for extending communications into intersecting cross cuts. The same formulae and nomograms which are used for microwave passive reflectors can be used for UHF reflector design.
A cross sectional study of the association between sex, smoking, and other lifestyle factors and osteoarthritis of the hand.

OBJECTIVE To describe the association between sex, smoking, physical activity, occupation, and previous digit fracture and hand osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS Cross sectional study of 522 subjects from 101 Tasmanian families (348 women, 174 men). Hand OA was assessed by 2 observers using the OARSI atlas for joint space narrowing and osteophytes at distal interphalangeal (DIP) and carpometacarpal joints as well as a score for Heberden's nodes based on hand photography. A structured questionnaire collected information regarding physical activity, sport participation, occupation, and smoking history. RESULTS Women had a higher prevalence of hand OA and the increase with age was significantly higher for women at all sites (all p < 0.05). Ever smoking was associated with less frequent (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.38, 0.92) and less severe Heberden's nodes (beta -0.60, 95% CI -1.03, -0.17), but not radiological disease. Recall of occupation, physical activity, and sport participation between the ages of 20 and 40 years had no association with the prevalence or severity of hand OA, while self-reported digital fracture was significantly associated with more common (OR 2.42, 95% CI 1.22, 4.83) and severe DIP joint disease (beta +3.92, 95% CI +1.50, +6.36). No factors were associated with carpometacarpal disease. CONCLUSION In this sample, women had a higher prevalence of hand OA at all sites as well as greater severity and a steeper age gradient (implying higher incidence rates). Smoking may decrease the risk of Heberden's nodes while having no effect on radiological hand OA, suggesting a differential effect possibly at the time of disease onset. With the exception of digital fracture, these data do not support a causal role for occupation or activity in earlier life with regard to hand OA.
Ubiquitous element approach to plasmonic enhanced photocatalytic water splitting: the case of Ti@TiO2 core-shell nanostructure

We demonstrate a new approach to plasmonic enhanced photocatalytic water splitting by developing a novel core-shell Ti@TiO2 brush nanostructure where an elongated Ti nanorod forms a plasmonic core that concentrates light inside of a nanotubular anodic TiO2 shell. Following the ubiquitous element approach aimed at providing an enhanced device functionality without the usage of noble or rare earth elements, we utilized only inexpensive Ti to create a complex Ti@TiO2 nanostructure with an enhanced UV and Vis photocatalytic activity that emerges from the interplay between the surface plasmon resonance in the Ti core, Vis light absorption in the Ti-rich oxide layer at the Ti/TiO2 interface and UV light absorption in the nanotubular TiO2 shell.
A sequential study of serum bacterial DNA in patients with advanced cirrhosis and ascites

Bacterial translocation is currently considered the main pathogenic mechanism leading to spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in patients with advanced cirrhosis and ascites. However, to the authors' knowledge there is no information regarding the characteristics of this process in humans. The goals of the current study were to pursue partially identified bacterial DNA in blood (what the authors consider molecular evidence of bacterial translocation) through its relative quantification in a 72‐hour study period by using real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A consecutive series of 17 patients with advanced cirrhosis and culture‐negative, nonneutrocytic ascites were studied. Therapeutic paracentesis was performed at the time of admission, and blood samples were obtained at baseline and every 8 hours in a 3‐day period. Bacterial DNA was detected by a PCR‐based method, relatively quantified by real‐time PCR, and identified by automated nucleotide sequencing. Seven of 17 patients demonstrated the simultaneous presence of bacterial DNA in blood and ascitic fluid at the time of admission. After therapeutic paracentesis was performed, bacterial DNA persisted in the blood for a minimum of 24 hours, and was reported to last as long as 72 hours in some patients. In addition, different patterns of bacterial DNA appearance and clearance from the blood were identified. The nucleotide sequencing process demonstrated that bacteria detected in the first sample were identical to those noted in subsequent detections over time. In conclusion, bacterial translocation is a single‐species, dynamic process that appears to develop in a subgroup of patients with advanced cirrhosis. (HEPATOLOGY 2004;39:484–491.)
Structural and functional changes by Ciprofloxacin of rat submandibular gland

In the present study, the effects of Ciprofloxacin (Cipro), a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, on rat submandibular gland structure and function were examined in an acute experiment. Cipro was administered intraperitoneally at various doses (20, 40 and 80 mg/kg). Pure submandibular saliva was collected intraorally by micropolyethylene tubes under anaesthesia using a dissecting microscope. After collection of saliva, submandibular glands were removed and weighed. Flow rate, amylase activity, total protein and electrolyte concentrations were measured in saliva. Concentrations of DNA and protein were measured in the gland. All doses of Cipro (20, 40, 80 mg/kg) reduced salivary flow rate. Concentrations of salivary total protein and calcium and gland DNA were reduced by all doses of Cipro. Treatment by Cipro (80 mg/kg) induced an increase in salivary sodium and potassium concentrations. Histopathological examination of glands revealed that Cipro at doses of 40 mg/kg and 80 mg/kg induces morphological changes in the glands including irregular shape of the cerous and mucous bobbles, lack of nucleus in some cells, damage of the cytoplasmic and cell walls and presence of oncocytes in secretory ducts. It is concluded that Cipro inhibits rat submandibular gland functions consistent with structural damages to the gland that might be observed as a side effect in humans. Properties of fluoroquinolones to alter intracellular cAMP and their ability to suppress DNA and protein synthesis of acinar cells might be possible reasons for observed changes.
The influence of dietary fibre source and level on the development of the gastrointestinal tract, digestibility and energy metabolism in broiler chickens

Abstract The present study was undertaken to provide detailed information about the effect of fibre source (pea fibre, wheat bran or oat bran) at inclusion levels of 0, 187 and 375 g/kg diet on the development of the digestive tract, nutrient digestibility and energy and protein metabolism in broiler chickens. Heat production was measured using open-air-circuit respiration chambers. Diets with increasing levels of pea fibre decreased the DM in droppings and increased excreta output (2·5-fold) relative to DM intake. Adaptation to increased dietary fibre levels included increases in the size of the digestive system, with pea fibre exerting a stronger impact than wheat bran or oat bran. The length of the intestine, and particularly the length and weight of the caecum, increased with the fibre level. The digestibility of all nutrients also decreased with increasing fibre level. The decrease in the digestibility in relation to NSP for the three fibre sources was bigger for oat bran (0·0020 per g dietary NSP) than for pea fibre and wheat bran (0·0014 and 0·0016 per g dietary NSP) indicating that the cell walls in oat bran (aleurone and subaleurone) had a significant negative effect on the digestibility of cellular nutrients, i.e. protein and fat. The degradation of the NSP constituents was far lower in chickens than found in other animal species such as pigs and rats, thus supporting the view that chickens do not ferment fibre polymers to a great extent. Excretion of organic acids (mainly lactic acid and acetic acid) accounted for up to 2% of metabolizable energy (ME) intake with the highest excretion for the high-fibre diets. H2 excretion was related to the amount of NSP degraded and indicated higher microbial fermentation with increasing fibre levels. The chickens' feed intake responded to a great extent to dietary ME concentration but expressed in terms of metabolic body size (W0·75) ME intake was depressed at the high fibre levels. Dietary NSP was able to explain between 86% (oat bran) and 96% (pea fibre) of the variation in ME concentration. The amount of energy available from fermentation of NSP appears to reach a maximum of 42 KJ/d independent of fibre source and level. Expressed in relation to ME intake the NSP fermentation contributed 3-4%. With increasing fibre intake the partitioning of retained energy between body protein and body fat changed in favour of protein.
Regulation of Cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate-Dependent Protein Kinase in Human Uterine Tissues During the Menstrual Cycle1

Abstract Contractility of uterine smooth muscle is essential for the cyclic shedding of the endometrial lining and also for expulsion of the fetus during parturition. The nitric oxide (NO)-cGMP signaling pathway is involved in smooth muscle relaxation. The downstream target of this pathway essential for decreasing cytoplasmic calcium and muscle tone is the cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG). The present study was undertaken to localize expression of PKG in tissues of the female reproductive tract and to test the hypothesis that uterine smooth muscle PKG levels vary with the human menstrual cycle. Immunohistochemistry was used to localize PKG in myometrium, cervix, and endometrium obtained during proliferative and secretory phases. The PKG was localized to uterine and vascular smooth muscle cells in myometrium, stromal cells in endometrium, and a small percentage of cervical stromal cells. Using Western blot analysis and protein kinase activity assays, the expression of PKG was reduced significantly in progesterone-dominated uteri compared with myometrium from postmenopausal women or women in the proliferative phase. These findings support a role for PKG in the control of uterine and vascular smooth muscle contractility during the menstrual cycle.
Fun games and health: evaluating physical education related CPD provision in primary schools: the case of the Buntus programme

x Glossary of Terms & Abbreviations xii __________________________________________________________________________ Chapter One: 1.0 Introduction 1 1.0 Introduction 2 1.1 A Test Case Study: The Case of the Buntús (Play & Multi-Sport) Programme 7 1.2 Justification for the Research 7
Intensive Care Unit Versus Ward Management After Anterolateral Thigh Flap Reconstruction After Oral Cancer Ablation

Background Whether postoperative care in the intensive care unit (ICU) is a necessity for patients undergoing head and neck free flap reconstruction remains debatable. In August 2012, our institute initiated a policy to care for these patients in the ICU, opposed to the previous policy of care in the ward. Thus, we used this opportunity to compare outcomes between these 2 care approaches. Patients and Methods Patients with oral cancer who underwent cancer ablation and immediate anterolateral thigh flap reconstruction from August 2010 to July 2014 were included in this retrospective study. Patients who simultaneously received an additional flap reconstruction were excluded. Before August 2012, these patients were routinely transferred to the ward for postoperative care (ward group, n = 179). Since August 2012, these patients have routinely been transferred to the ICU for postoperative care (ICU group, n = 138). Results Both groups had comparable flap outcomes in terms of the rates of take-back, successful salvage, flap survival, and flap complication. Compared with the ward group, the ICU group showed an increased use of postoperative sedation (26.7% vs 6.8%, P = 0.000), a correspondingly longer use of mechanical ventilation (3.0 ± 2.7 days vs 0.4 ± 1.4 days, P = 0.000), and a higher incidence of sepsis (3.6% vs 0%, P = 0.015). Conclusions Postoperative care of patients who have undergone anterolateral thigh flap reconstruction after oral cancer ablation in the ward or ICU resulted in comparable flap outcomes. Risks and benefits between ward and ICU postoperative management in terms of nursing workloads, monitoring facilities, use of sedation and mechanical ventilation, and potential for sepsis should be taken into consideration when defining postoperative care settings in these patients.
China, autocratic cooperation and autocratic survival

This thesis examines whether China, as an emerging autocratic power, is a force of autocratic stability in the world. By combining expertise accumulated in the field of area studies with a comparative research design that is common in the field of international politics, this thesis contributes to two scientific debates: First, it adds to the discussion on the external factors of regime type. Second, it explores the effects and attempts to quantify the impact of China's rise on other governments. Against the background of a political economy argument, I argue that autocratic powers should prefer other states to become autocratic too. Reliant on the distribution of private goods to bind domestic supporters, autocratic leaders benefit from other similar small winning coalition governments, because it is easier to extract resources from other small winning coalitions. These resources can then be distributed at home. Given these considerations, I suppose that cooperation between autocrats is a cause of autocratic longevity rather than a mere consequence of regime similarity as is usually assumed. In order to test my hypotheses, I construct an innovative data set on China's foreign relations. My regression results suggest that the Chinese government prefers cooperation with autocratic small coalition governments and that trade with China improves the likelihood of survival for autocratic leaders. Furthermore, the argument is tested by the means of three comparative case studies. In order to do so, China’s success is compared in realizing three Chinese foreign policy interests in three Asian developing countries with a variety of political systems. The case studies compare whether or not Myanmar, Cambodia and Mongolia adhered to the ‘one-China’ policy, to what extent they provided access to natural resources to Chinese companies and how they positioned themselves with regard to China’s geo-political interests. Suggesting that more autocratic countries showed greater compliance, the results support the theoretical argument.
The Effect of Educational Technology Variables on Elementary Education Student Achievement (Instructional Materials, Educational Media).

The purpose of this study was to determine whether educational technology variables differentiate between "effective" and "ineffective" elementary schools. It was hypothesized that "effective schools" use educational media in instruction more frequently than "ineffective schools". It was also expected that "effective schools" use educational media in qualitatively superior ways to "ineffective schools". In addition, it was predicted that "effective schools" would have better prepared teachers in educational media and teachers with more years of teaching experience than "ineffective schools". The sample consisted of fourteen elementary schools located in 12 school districts throughout Louisiana. Each school was determined to be either an "effective school" or an "ineffective school" by the level scored above or below predicted achievement test score on the Louisiana Basic Skills Test, and were paired on racial composition and location. The 3 'R's Test of reading, language, and mathematics achievement was administered to all third grade students in each school. A questionnaire on the use of educational technology in the schools was administered to all of the teachers in the sample schools. An instrument was used to record the quality of use of educational media in the viii classroom, and approximately 36 hours of observational data was collected in each school. The data were analyzed at the school level using paired t-tests, and results indicated that "effective schools" used transparencies more frequently than "ineffective schools". It was found that teacher and adult-lead interactive teaching with books was greater in "effective schools" than "ineffective schools". Off-task behavior was observed more frequently in "ineffective schools". Additionally, teachers who had taken an undergraduate course in educational media were more likely to be on the faculty of "effective schools". A discriminant function analysis using predictor variables identified from a stepwise regression was computed and correctly classified the schools as effective or ineffective. The predictor variables entered into the model were the same as the significant variables identified from the paired t-tests. The results are discussed with respect to the effect of ' educational technology variables on elementary school student achievement.
Evidence for neural regulation of inflammatory synovial cell functions by secreting calcitonin gene-related peptide and vasoactive intestinal peptide in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE To elucidate the possible involvement of the nervous system in the regulation of pathophysiologic responses in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we examined the expression of peripheral nerves containing the neuropeptides calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in RA synovium and their effects on RA synovial cell functions. METHODS The effects of CGRP and VIP on proinflammatory cytokine and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) production by RA synovial cells were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and their messenger RNA (mRNA) expression by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using limiting dilutions of the complementary DNA. Expression of CGRP receptors (CGRPRs) and VIP receptors (VIPRs) on RA synovial cells was assessed by RT-PCR and radioreceptor assays. The functions of CGRPRs and VIPRs of the synovial cells were studied by using a CGRPR antagonist and a VIPR antagonist, respectively. RESULTS CGRP and VIP inhibited the proliferation of, and the proinflammatory cytokine and MMP production by, RA synovial cells at the level of mRNA expression. Expression of CGRPR and VIPR on RA fibroblast-like synovial cells was confirmed by RT-PCR and radioreceptor assays. Functions of the neuropeptide receptors were inhibited by their receptor antagonists. CGRP and VIP inhibited nuclear translocation and phosphorylation of the transcription factor cAMP response element binding protein in RA synovial cells. CONCLUSION CGRP and VIP inhibited excessive synovial cell functions, which suggests neural regulation of inflammatory responses in patients with RA and possible clinical application of the neuropeptides.
Where women stand: parliamentary candidate selection in Canada

ABSTRACT A notable gender gap in candidate selection still exists in Canada. While the five major political parties all used a similar decentralized candidate selection process in the 2015 Canadian federal election, the proportion of women candidates varied significantly by party. Placing the authority for selection with constituency-level party organizations limits the ability of parties to impose top-down gender parity policies and also, in principle, makes the process sensitive to demographic and political differences among constituencies. However, the results of mixed-methods analyses show limited influence of traditional local political and demographic variables, but a strong effect of party. The findings also show significant spatial clustering, suggesting that factors such as local social networks may help explain the variation in the nomination of women candidates. We conclude by discussing how party cultures and social networks might reflect supply and demand obstacles for potential women candidates, and how these factors might present challenges to achieving gender parity among federal candidates in Canada.