Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transplantation of Enalapril-Treated Kidneys Confers Persistent Lowering of Arterial Pressure in SHR

Abstract—The kidney plays a critical role in regulating the level of arterial pressure and in the pathogenesis of hypertension. Important evidence has come from studies in which hypertension is generated by transplanting kidneys from genetically hypertensive rats into normotensive recipients, suggesting that the level of blood pressure is strongly influenced by the genetic background of the kidney. We hypothesized that pharmacotherapy could modify specific properties intrinsic to the kidney such that after transplantation, there would be persistent changes in the level of arterial pressure. We determined that angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor treatment (enalapril) in spontaneously hypertensive rats induced both a persistent 17% reduction of mean arterial pressure and a persistent change in the kidney. This persistent change in the circulation could be completely transferred to untreated spontaneously hypertensive rats by kidney transplantation; ie, mean arterial pressure in untreated spontaneously hypertensive rat recipients was persistently lowered after transplantation of a kidney from a previously treated spontaneously hypertensive rat donor. In addition, the persistent lowering of mean arterial pressure after enalapril treatment could be completely abolished by implanting an untreated kidney, thereby revealing the importance of the kidney-specific changes. Furthermore, after within-group transplantations, there were no changes in the level of arterial pressure; ie, a 16% difference in mean arterial pressure remained between the 2 groups. The findings revealed that drug-induced changes specific to the kidney determined the level of arterial pressure, thereby suggesting the kidney should be a key therapeutic target for pharmacotherapy.
Supply governance structures for reverse logistics systems

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the changes in governance structures that evolved as reverse logistics systems were developed. The UK car crash repair sector was used as a case study.Design/methodology/approach – The value‐chain governance framework proposed by Gereffi et al. was used to assess changes in governance systems as firms developed a reverse logistics flow and three transactional variables were used to determine how supply chains are governed and change. Both forward and reverse product flows for two supply chains were assessed to determine what changes in governance of the supply chain took place as reverse logistics operations developed.Findings – The authors' analysis documents how relationships between the focal firm and other supply chain members altered as the new reverse logistic system developed. The modular governance structure that developed through increased supplier capability coupled with higher levels of knowledge and information codifications were shown to be im.
The effects of protease supplementation on skeletal muscle function and DOMS following downhill running

Protease supplementation has been shown to attenuate soft tissue injury resulting from intense exercise. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of protease supplementation on muscle soreness and contractile performance after downhill running. Ten matched pairs of male participants ran at a −10% grade for 30 min at 80% of their predicted maximal heart rate. The participants consumed two protease tablets (325 mg pancreatic enzymes, 75 mg trypsin, 50 mg papain, 50 mg bromelain, 10 mg amylase, 10 mg lipase, 10 mg lysozyme, 2 mg chymotrypisn) or a placebo four times a day beginning 1 day before exercise and lasting a total of 4 days. The participants were evaluated for perceived muscle soreness of the front and back of the dominant leg, pressure pain threshold by dolorimetry of the anterior medial, anterior lateral, posterior medial and posterior lateral quadrants of the thigh, and knee extension/flexion torque and power. The experimental group demonstrated superior recovery of contractile function and diminished effects of delayed-onset muscle soreness after downhill running when compared with the placebo group. Our results indicate that protease supplementation may attenuate muscle soreness after downhill running. Protease supplementation may also facilitate muscle healing and allow for faster restoration of contractile function after intense exercise.
The dynamic relationship among poverty, inequality, and growth in rural Ethiopia: A micro evidence

The Ethiopian government has boldly set very rapid and sustainable growth and its equitable distribution as its prime development objective to end poverty in the foreseeable future. For this reason, promoting agricultural and rural development has been purported by the government as its top development agenda since it took power some 19 years back. Yet the extent to which the government realizes this objective remains in doubt. This paper attempts to analyze the dynamic relationships among poverty, inequality and growth. While many of the available studies use aggregate cross-country data sets, this study, however, uses household panel data-set. The decomposition result indicates that the observed growth was neither rapid nor sustainable. Poverty and inequality have not also declined considerably except between 1995 and 1997. The study also systematically generated 90 observations of indices from the five rounds to estimate Fixed Effect (FE) regression model. The estimated growth and inequality elasticities of poverty were found equal to 3.32 and -3.68, respectively. What this means is that poverty could still remain high if the country fails to achieve rapid and sustainable growth, on the one hand, and simultaneously reduce inequality, on the other. Key words: Inequality, poverty, growth, fixed effects.
Does antenatal pelvic floor muscle training prevent stress urinary incontinence in primi-gravidae?

informed consenting, especially in a country like ours, would be difÞ cult to enforce and patient preference would be used as an excuse for such practices. Lastly, as such there is increased incidence of RCC in allograft recipients up to 100 times more than in the general population. [5] Transplantation of kidneys with proven RCC may increase the incidence of recurrence or metastasis even more. Though there appears to be a reasonable oncological and safety proÞ le for recipients in the present study there are overwhelming considerations of this approach of stretching the donor pool a bit too far.
The Japanese Banking Crisis: Where Did It Come from and How Will It End?

We argue that the deregulation leading up to the Big Bang has played a major role in the current banking problems. This deregulation allowed large corporations to switch quickly from depending on banks to relying on capital-market financing. We present evidence showing that large Japanese borrowers, particularly manufacturing firms, have already become almost as independent of banks as comparable U.S. firms. The deregulation was much less favorable for savers, and consequently they mostly continued turning their money over to the banks. However, banks were also constrained. They were not given authorization to move out of traditional activities into new lines of business. These developments together meant that the banks retained assets and had to search for new borrowers. Their new lending primarily flowed to small businesses and became much more tied to property than in the past. These loans have not fared well during the 1990s. We discuss the size of the current bad-loan problem and conclude that it is quite large (on the order of 7% of GDP). Looking ahead, we argue that the Big Bang will correct the aforementioned regulatory imbalances. This will mean that banks will have to fight to retain deposits. More importantly, we expect even more firms to migrate to capital-market financing. Using the U.S. borrowing patterns as a guide, we present estimates showing that this impending shift implies a massive contraction in the size of the Japanese banking sector.
Seasoned Equity Offers and Rights Issues: A Review of the Evidence

The paper reviews evidence from the USA and UK on seasoned equity offers (SEOs) and rights issues. There are two main avenues of research: first, the market reaction to announcements of SEOs, and the related questions of the price elasticity of demand for new shares and the timing of issues; second, the costs of issuing and choice of issuing method. The negative reaction to announcements is well documented and the evidence suggests it is more due to an issue being a signal of overvaluation than to inelastic demand. Other findings are less well understood. The shares of issuers underperform appreciably in the long term, and there is evidence that market receptiveness to new issues varies. Companies tend to choose the most expensive method of issue both in terms of direct costs and negative market reaction. US companies use underwritten non-rights, through underwriting increases the direct costs. A possible explanation is that certification of issue value by the sponsor is more credible with non-rights issues in the USA and underwritten rights in the UK than with the apparently cheaper alternatives.
Dynamics of Technological Innovation and Employment: Panel Evidence from Luxembourg

This paper studies the dynamic relationship between technological innovation and employment using an unbalanced panel enterprise-level data from four waves of the Luxembourgish Community Innovation Survey (CIS) merged with data from the Structural Business Statistics (SBS) over the period 2003-2010. We estimate a great deal of dynamic panel data models using a wide range of estimation techniques from ordinary least squares, maximum likelihood and instrumental variables to the generalized method of moments and the system generalized method of moments. In addition to accounting for the autoregressive structure of the model, we take account of the endogeneity of technological innovation and find that employment growth is negatively and significantly affected by technological innovation, a rather surprising result that is at odds with the majority of the empirical literature.
Behavioural models of Italian “ethical certified entities”, a research study

Entities operating with an environmental and/or social certification (ISO 14001, EMAS and SA8000) are growing continuously. Italian "multi-certified" entities show different CSR attitudes and behaviours. This paper assess the significance and materiality of the relation between the existence of ethical and environmental management systems and features like size, economic performance, CSR attitudes and level of disclosure. Trough a theoretical and empirical analysis the research defines and maps some behavioural model adopted by Italian "ethical multi-certified".
Second Language Teacher Education in Canada: The Development of Professional Standards

The institution of professional standards for Adult ESL is one of the most influential developments in Canadian second language teacher education in recent years. As a major innovation in practice and values, this initiative has interesting implications not only for the content of the standards themselves, but also for the process by which the change is being accomplished. In particular, heterophilous communication (communication between individuals or bodies with different group affiliations) has played a significant role in both the definition and the diffusion of these standards. While some differences in approach may still be observed, in general a remarkable level of support has already been achieved and there is every reason to anticipate that the professional standards movement will continue contributing to the evolution of second language teacher education programs and to the profile of the profession cross the country.
Do windfall non-debt tax shields from acquisitions affect corporate debt issues?

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify possible tax synergies from acquisitions when the acquiring firm gains a non-debt tax shield (NDTS) not directly associated with its own past performance, or a windfall NDTS. One possible benefit of a windfall NDTS is reduced reliance on interest tax shields to lower the firm's marginal tax rate (MTR). Design/methodology/approach - This paper tests the likelihood of issuing debt following acquisitions of windfall non-debt tax attributes with logistic regressions. Both acquirers and targets are publicly held US firms. Acquisitions are completed from 1987 to 2003, and debt issues are observed following the deal. Target firm tax attributes are defined as the total tax spread, tax loss carryforward (TLCF), and the MTR. Findings - Target firm tax spread and TLCFs are inconsequential to the acquirer's likelihood of issuing future debt, suggesting that tax synergies are relatively unimportant motives for acquisitions. As predicted, the target firm MTR is not significant to acquirer debt issues. Originality/value - This paper makes several contributions. First, the notion of tax synergies from acquisitions is unresolved. This paper continues the search for tax synergies in acquisitions by examining the importance of acquired NDTS in the post-acquisition period. Second, this paper examines the influence of NDTS on debt issuance in a post-event framework. Third, this paper provides additional evidence that corporate managers have leverage targets.
The Fission Yeast Nup107-120 Complex Functionally Interacts with the Small GTPase Ran/Spi1 and Is Required for mRNA Export, Nuclear Pore Distribution, and Proper Cell Division

ABSTRACT We have characterized Schizosaccharomyces pombe open reading frames encoding potential orthologues of constituents of the evolutionarily conserved Saccharomyces cerevisiae Nup84 vertebrate Nup107-160 nuclear pore subcomplex, namely Nup133a, Nup133b, Nup120, Nup107, Nup85, and Seh1. In spite of rather weak sequence conservation, in vivo analyses demonstrated that these S. pombe proteins are localized at the nuclear envelope. Biochemical data confirmed the organization of these nucleoporins within conserved complexes. Although examination of the S. cerevisiae and S. pombe deletion mutants revealed different viability phenotypes, functional studies indicated that the involvement of this complex in nuclear pore distribution and mRNA export has been conserved between these highly divergent yeasts. Unexpectedly, microscopic analyses of some of the S. pombe mutants revealed cell division defects at the restrictive temperature (abnormal septa and mitotic spindles and chromosome missegregation) that were reminiscent of defects occurring in several S. pombe GTPase Ran (RanSp)/Spi1 cycle mutants. Furthermore, deletion of nup120 moderately altered the nuclear location of RanSp/Spi1, whereas overexpression of a nonfunctional RanSp/Spi1-GFP allele was specifically toxic in the Δnup120 and Δnup133b mutant strains, indicating a functional and genetic link between constituents of the S. pombe Nup107-120 complex and of the RanSp/Spi1 pathway.
Going on to uni? Access and participation in university for students from backgrounds of disadvantage

This article reports on a research project that investigated the aspirations of primary and secondary school students about access to, and participation in higher education. The research was undertaken at schools in low socio-economic status regional and rural areas of north-eastern New South Wales. The paper discusses the background to the research and the methodologies used. It reports findings on the impact and intersections of demographics, financial factors, geographic location, and cultural and social capital in relation to the formation of students' perceptions, choices and decisions about participation in higher education.
Pilot exploration of the association between self-esteem and professional satisfaction in Hellenic hospital nurses.

AIM To explore potential associations between nurses' self-esteem and professional satisfaction. BACKGROUND Professional burnout and moderate job satisfaction have been reported consistently among nurses. However, potential associations of the above elements with personality characteristics have not been adequately addressed. METHODS A random sample of 154 adult healthcare nurses completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Berger's Scale and the Index of Work Satisfaction. Associations and comparisons across different settings and background variables were explored. RESULTS Moderate to positive levels of self-acceptance (mean Likert rating: 3.95 +/- 0.51) and acceptance-of-others (mean Likert rating: 3.7 +/- 0.43) and low to moderate levels of professional satisfaction (mean Likert rating: 3.69 +/- 0.63) were observed. Positive correlations were detected between professional satisfaction and self-esteem indices (r = 0.249-0.313, P < or = 0.008). A mediating effect of burnout was implied. CONCLUSIONS A potential interaction between personality and professional attitudes of Hellenic Hospital nurses was observed. The present study is limited within the correlational frame. Further study is needed to investigate a potential causal relationship between self-esteem indices and professional satisfaction, in order to inform nursing retention and support policies.
Towards Adapting Scientific Workflow Systems to Healthcare Planning

Healthcare and research environments have common characteristics and needs, such as managing people and resources, planning and conducting distributed activities, event-sensitive and monitoring processes. There are several examples in which Workflow Management Systems can aid healthcare management, systematizing, logging and automating activities. In this work we propose a context-driven approach to produce health workflows, which goes beyond an adaptation of workflows tasks to afford health procedures – as proposed in related work – departing from the rationale born from health professionals and materialized in CIG. This paper presents our proposal to support nursing processes through customization of workflows tools using as a starting point a comparative study of systems with respect to features required by healthcare professionals.
Comparison of Vero cell assay and PCR as indicators of the presence of verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli in bovine and human fecal samples

Comparisons were made between Vero cell assay (VCA) and PCR as indicators for the detection of verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC; also known as Shiga-like toxin-producing E. coli) and as predictors of VTEC isolation from bovine and human fecal samples. Fecal samples were collected as part of a survey on the prevalence of VTEC on dairy farms in southern Ontario (J. B. Wilson et al., J. Infect. Dis., 174:1021-1027, 1996). A total of 2,655 samples were examined by VCA and PCR, 2,153 originating from cattle and 502 originating from humans. Overall, 36.2% of the samples were positive in the VCA and 38.7% were positive by PCR. Of the VCA-positive samples screened, 41.6% yielded a VTEC isolate. For both human and bovine samples, a significant positive association between PCR result and VCA titer (P = 0.0001) was found. In addition, there was a significant positive association between the PCR result and VTEC isolation from VCA-positive samples for cattle (odds ratio = 9.1, P < 0.0001). For bovine samples positive in the VCA, VCA titer was significantly associated with the probability of obtaining a VTEC isolate. Agreement between VCA and PCR was good for both bovine and human samples (kappa = 0.69 and 0.64, respectively). The sensitivity and specificity of the PCR with respect to the VCA for bovine samples were 82.0 and 86.5%, respectively, and those for human samples were 59.3 and 98.1%, respectively. Although correlation between VCA and PCR results was not absolute, when used in conjunction, these tests complemented one another as predictors of VTEC isolation.
Putin and the "Delegative Democracy" Trap: Evidence from Russia's 2003-04 Elections

Three experts on Russian elections analyze the surprising degree to which Russian voters supported their leaders, especially Putin, in the December 2003 Duma elections and the March 2004 presidential election. Drawing on the results of surveys of a nationally representative sample of Russians of voting age made between December 19, 2003, and February 15, 2004, and then between April 4 and May 11, 2004, the authors identify some distinctive trends in voting behavior. The results of the election are analyzed in terms of the views and characteristics of the people who voted in particular ways. The trends revealed by the surveys and the authors' analysis are used to consider how Putin's Russia compares to "delegative democracies" in Latin America.
Land Use Controls and Housing Prices in Korea

This paper analyses the effects of government controls over land supply on housing in the rapidly growing cities of Korea. Whilst Korea's urban population more than doubled in the period 1973-88, urban land for residential use grew by only 65 per cent. The result has been extremely rapid rises in city residential land values, although the more dense use of residential land has offset some of this rise on house prices. A substantial part of the rise in house prices has resulted from the government's tendency to underallocate land to urban residential use, although part of the government's surplus is used to subsidise low-income housing within the same projects.
Language growth in children with heterogeneous language disorders: a population study

Background Language development has been characterised by significant individual stability from school entry. However, the extent to which trajectories of language growth vary in children with language disorder as a function of co‐occurring developmental challenges is a question of theoretical import, with implications for service provision. Methods SCALES employed a population‐based survey design with sample weighting procedures to estimate growth in core language skills over the first three years of school. A stratified sample (n = 529) received comprehensive assessment of language, nonverbal IQ, and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties at 5–6 years of age and 95% of the sample (n = 499) were assessed again at ages 7–8. Language growth was measured using both raw and standard scores in children with typical development, children with language disorder of unknown origin, and children with language disorders associated with a known clinical condition and/or intellectual disability. Results Overall, language was stable at the individual level (estimated ICC = 0.95) over the first three years of school. Linear mixed effects models highlighted steady growth in language raw scores across all three groups, including those with multiple developmental challenges. There was little evidence, however, that children with language disorders were narrowing the gap with peers (z‐scores). Adjusted models indicated that while nonverbal ability, socioeconomic status and social, emotional and behavioural deficits predicted initial language score (intercept), none predicted language growth (slope). Conclusions These findings corroborate previous studies suggesting stable language trajectories after ages 5–6 years, but add considerably to previous work by demonstrating similar developmental patterns in children with additional nonverbal cognitive deficits, social, emotional, and behavioural challenges, social disadvantage or clinical diagnoses.
Job Satisfaction, Job Involvement, Job Security, and Customer Focus of Quick-Service Restaurant Employees

This study examined the relationships of customer focus and job satisfaction, job involvement, and job security for quick-service restaurant employees. Results indicated that job satisfaction, job involvement, and job security do tend to predict customer focus for restaurant employees, and, consequently, increasing job satis faction, job involvement, and job security may improve an employee's customer focus. Having a better understanding of employees and factors which affect their focus on the services they provide to others is critical for restaurant managers as they hire and train employees.