Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Controlled release formulation of ranitidine-containing montmorillonite and Eudragit® E-100

Aim: The objective of this work was to illustrate the suitability of montmorillonite (MMT) as a drug delivery carrier, by developing a new clay–drug composite of ranitidine hydrochloride (RT) intercalated in MMT. Methods: The MMT–RT composite was prepared by ion-exchange process. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectra were employed to confirm the intercalation of RT in the MMT interlayers. The prepared MMT–RT hybrid was coated with cationic polymer Eudragit® E-100 by oil-in-water solvent evaporation method. The release processes of RT from MMT–RT and MMT–RT/Eudragit® E-100 were monitored under in vitro condition in the gastric fluid. Results: X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectra analysis indicated the intercalation of RT molecules within the clay lattice. The in vitro release studies showed that MMT–RT released RT in a controlled manner. In the case of MMT–RT/Eudragit® E-100, both the release rate and the release percentages noticeably increased in the presence of Eudragit® E-100, because of its effective exchange with intercalated RT molecules. The release kinetics followed parabolic diffusion mechanism. Conclusion: MMT has great potential as a drug delivery carrier with various scenarios. The dosage of the MMT–RT/Eudragit® E-100 can be in the tablet form. The hybrid material and polymer-coated hybrids are microparticles.
Lack of bartonella sp. in 167 ixodes ricinus ticks collected in Central Sweden

Sudden death in Swedish orienteers was demonstrated to be significantly associated with antibodies to Bartonella sp. To test if these antibodies could be related with tick exposure, we searched Bartonella sp. in Ixodes ricinus ticks using specific PCR amplification and culture. No Bartonella sp. was detected in 167 ticks tested.
Systemic mirnas as potential biomarkers for malignancy

MiRNAs are a class of short, endogenous, single‐stranded RNA molecules that play a role in the regulation of gene expression. They have been shown to modulate a number of cellular processes including cell differentiation, growth and apoptosis and as a result have been implicated in carcinogenesis. They are detectable in tumour tissue, and altered expression levels have been identified in various cancer types. Of interest, miRNAs have recently been detected and identified to be dysregulated in the circulation of patients with breast cancer. The fact that a minimally invasive test can distinguish the presence or absence of disease illustrates the immense potential these molecules hold as predictive markers. This review serves to identify those systemic miRNAs that are upregulated or downregulated in malignancy and how treatment impacts on their circulating levels. In addition, this review questions the source of these small molecules in the bloodstream and how they may possibly play a role in the future detection of cancer as either prognostic or predictive markers. © 147.
Reliability of an isokinetic test of muscle strength and endurance.

Funding for this study was provided by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command, Project No. 85PP5866, under the Joint Working Group on Drug Dependent Degradation in Military Performance Program. The opinions or assertions contained herein are private ones of the authors and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Department of Defense or the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. The reliability of an isokinetic test of muscle strength and endurance was evaluated. Eleven males and 9 females underwent testing on three separate occasions, 2-4 days apart. The protocol included a velocity spectrum test (VST-5 repetitions at velocities ranging from 90-330 degrees /sec) and a muscle endurance test (number of contractions performed in 45 sec at 180 degrees /sec). In the VST, no significant within-subject test day differences were noted at any velocity. Reliability was generally higher at slower velocities and higher for knee extension than flexion. Mean intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for peak torque across velocities were 0.88 for extension and 0.79 for flexion. For the endurance test, two reliable measures were total work performed and average power (ICCs = 0.92); relative endurance measures had ICCs of less than 0.80. Thresholds for demonstrating experimental effects and the number of subjects to test at different detection levels are-recommended.J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 1989;10(8):315-322.
Does Sport Matter?: An Analysis Of The Personality Of Sport

This paper examines the intrinsic characteristics of sport and reaffirms the idea that celebrity endorsers bring more to the endorsement process than just their personal qualities. This idea was previously proposed by McCracken (1989) in his transfer of meaning theory. The importance of this research lies in the fact that given the risks associated with celebrity endorsement, marketers must be aware of all factors that influence consumers’ evaluations of the celebrity endorsement. The proposition therefore is that an athlete’s sport is a factor that influences consumers’ celebrity endorsement evaluations. In other words the athlete and his sport cannot be separated.
Modeling fracture porosity development using simple growth laws

A model of porosity development has been developed to investigate general relationships between simple fracture aperture growth laws and fracture porosity in evolved fracture arrays in aquifers. The growth of fracture apertures in two‐dimensional orthogonal arrays with initially spatially uncorrelated lognormal aperture distributions has been studied, where aperture growth rate is proportional to an exponent of the flow rate through each fracture. The evolved arrays show geometrical phase changes as a function of the aperture growth rate exponent, e, and the standard deviation of the initial aperture distribution, σz. Low values of e and σz lead to bimodal aperture distributions, where apertures parallel to flow are preferentially enlarged. At moderate values of e and σz, there is a transition to a regime of more complex geometries consisting of networks of channel‐like structures of preferentially enlarged apertures. At larger values of e, array‐spanning channel‐like paths of preferentially enlarged apertures develop, where the tortuosity of the channel‐like paths is a linear function of σz. Following an initial growth phase, during which dynamically stable aperture configurations develop, arrays undergo simple amplification. The geometry of the evolved aperture fields is diverse and they can be highly complex; consequently, parameterization and prediction of their evolution in terms of the initial aperture distributions and growth rate laws is not trivial.
A toothless bite? The effectiveness of the European Employment Strategy as a governance tool

This article concerns the effectiveness of the European Employment Strategy (EES) as a governance tool. It analyses the policy measures of the Member States with regard to the commonly agreed guidelines and the country-specific recommendations of the Council. To analyse the policy measures the paper introduces a new quantitative method, which is applied to ten EU Member States during 2005–2009. After presenting the results, the paper subsequently analyses the level of follow-up with regard to future intended reforms within the Member States and their level of responses to the country-specific recommendations. Although it is difficult to attribute the reforms within the Member States to the EES, the analysis reveals that it is hard to get Member States to move beyond their national priorities, resulting in the EES being a weak governance tool.
Nephrin mRNA regulation by protein kinase C.

BACKGROUND Mutations in the recently cloned NPHS1 gene result in congenital nephrotic syndrome of the Finnish type (CNF). The protein product of NPHS1, nephrin, is expressed uniquely in kidney glomerular podocytes, and is the first true component of the interpodocyte slit membrane. The precise functions of nephrin remain unknown, but the presence of several tyrosine residues in the intracellular domain suggest a role in signalling. We searched for nephrin expressing cell line for use in signal transduction studies and also characterized the main features of calcium signalling in nephrin-deficient cultural glomerular epithelial cells. METHODS We used A293 cell line, found to naturally express nephrin, as well as cultured CNF glomerular cells using reverse-transcription PCR, immunocytochemistry and intracellular Ca2+ measurements. RESULTS Phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate significantly upregulated the nephrin expression in A293 cells, while no change was found after treatment with additional stimulants for other main signalling pathways, e.g. okadaic acid, lysophosphatidic acid, bradykinin, angiotensin II (ANG II) and arginine vasopressin (AVP). No changes in basal or ANG II- or AVP-stimulated intracellular Ca2+ fluxes in CNF glomerular cells were observed. CONCLUSIONS Protein kinase C may be the key intracellular signalling system in the regulation of nephrin.
Efficacy of cyclo-oxygenase inhibition by two commercially available firocoxib products in horses.

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY Two firocoxib preparations for oral use are approved for use in animals in many countries: a chewable canine tablet and an equine paste. In order to reduce costs, many veterinarians use the canine product in horses even though this is an off-label use of the preparation. OBJECTIVE To determine the relative efficacy of 2 commercially available firocoxib products to inhibit prostaglandin E₂ (PGE2) synthesis after oral dosing in horses. STUDY DESIGN A crossover design using 8 adult horses (n = 4 for each preparation during each treatment period). Body weight range 532-614 kg. METHODS Horses received 57 mg of the assigned firocoxib preparation orally once daily for 7 days, with a 14 day washout period between drug crossover. Ten healthy adult light breed horses were used as no-treatment controls. During each treatment period, blood was taken before dosing on Days 0 and 7 and on Day 7 1 h after dosing for ex vivo lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation to induce (PGE₂ ) synthesis. Heparinised plasma was also collected on Day 7 immediately prior to and 1 h after dosing to determine plasma firocoxib concentrations. RESULTS In the control group, there was no significant change in LPS-induced PGE2 over time. In contrast, immediately prior to and 1 h after treatment on Day 7, the mean LPS-induced PGE₂ concentration decreased significantly compared to Day 0 values in all treated horses. There was no difference in PGE₂ or plasma firocoxib concentrations between firocoxib treatment groups. CONCLUSION In this model, the canine chewable preparation of firocoxib was as effective as the equine paste formulation at reducing LPS-induced PGE₂ synthesis. POTENTIAL RELEVANCE The canine chewable preparation of firocoxib may be a suitable alternative to the paste formulation in horses for situations where extra-label drug use can be legally justified. The Summary is available in Chinese - see Supporting information.
HOME OWNERSHIP AND THE RETIREMENT DECISION

Whereas early retirement schemes were seen as an important part of economic restructuring until the 1990s, the demographic time bomb has stimulated governments to reconsider such policies. The global financial crisis has accelerated policies that actually promote working beyond the age of 65 as public pension provision as well as (semi) private pension funds have come under pressure. Home ownership forms a major asset which can provide, in principle, a route towards early retirement or may hamper any policies that stimulate working past retirement. This study analyses the role of tenure on both the macro and the micro level: both for early and ‘late’ retirement. Controlling for other relevant factors we find that mortgage debt delays retirement. On a micro level we also find that housing costs in general can play a role, such that both renters and owners with low net housing costs (rent or mortgage) have higher odds of retiring early. NEUJOBS Working Documents are intended to give an indication of work being conducted within the NEUJOBS research project and to stimulate reactions from other experts in the field. Texts published in this series are ultimately destined for academic publishing. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily represent any institution with which he is affiliated. See the back page for more information about the NEUJOBS project. Available for free downloading from the NEUJOBS website (http://www.neujobs.eu)
Multiband transceiver for wireless sensor network traffic offloading

In the paper we propose a control algorithm to offload traffic for a IEEE802.15. 4g/e compliant multiband transceiver. The algorithm is implemented based on beacons of multiple bands. By counting number of communication failure, the proposed algorithm can switch to a suitable band adaptable to its communication environment. The algorithm has been implemented in the multiband transceiver, which works corresponding to four bands of 400M/900M/1.2G /2.4GHz developed in our company. In the paper, we show experiments with 900MHz and 2.4GHz bands. With the experiment results, it is shown that the proposed algorithm can switch in time from 2.4GHz to 900MHz when signal attenuation occurs, and can maintain connections effectively between multiple (e.g., ten) terminal devices and one coordinator with a low communication loss rate of 2.7% or less.
Welfare calculations in models of the demand for sanitation

Empirical and theoretical research on the demand for health inputs has been, and still is, extensive. However, it is not only important to analyse how household choice is affected by alternative and household specific attributes, but it is equally important to analyse the welfare implications of, for example, a change in the price of different inputs. Policymakers and donor agencies involved in sanitation programmes will typically be interested in the welfare implications of different policy alternatives. This paper analyses the welfare implications of a change in the price of certain sanitation related inputs. In addition, a comparison of the welfare estimates derived from the ‘standard’ approach, i.e. the conditional logit model and the more novel approach i.e. the random parameter/mixed logit model is undertaken. The findings suggest that model choice indeed has implications for the results since the welfare estimates from the two models differ quite remarkably.
Getting Away with Robbery? Patenting Behavior with the Threat of Infringement

The paper examines how an innovator's ability to enforce her patent rights affects (and is affected by) her decision to patent her innovation and her patent breadth decision. Specifically, the paper shows that the innovator may find it optimal to patent her innovation even if litigation is not pursued in the event of patent imitation. The patent is valuable because it can be used to influence the entrant's location decision in a way that is profitable for the incumbent. In addition to showing that a patent need not be legally enforced to be valuable, the paper shows that the lower is the entrant's R&D cost, the smaller is the innovator's incentive to patent her product. If patenting occurs, however, the lower is the R&D cost, the greater is the patent breadth that could be chosen without triggering imitation.
The end of policy analysis: With apologies to daniel (the end of ideology) bell and francis (“the end of history”) fukiyama

Small changes are the meat and potatoes of policy analysts. By temperament we are tinkerers and not transformers, cautious folk for whom the word "opportunity" seems invariably to be followed by "cost. " Whether the problem concerns welfare or AIDS, criminal justice or education or the environment, we pride ourselves on our capacity to design modest but useful improvements, not revolutions. Even the bureaucrat-heroes of our caselore are, comparatively speaking, the souls of modesty. While lawyers and politicians, scientists and tycoons get lionized in film, try to imagine Hollywood making a movie with a policy analyst as its hero-Robert Redford cast as Gordon Chase, perhaps? It's hardly news that our profession is suffering from the crisis of confidence that affects public problem solvers generally. If you walk the corridors of Congress, talking to the lawmakers or the staffers, concepts like gridlock and malaise acquire entire new meanings. Nothing much seems to be happening-nothing good, anyway. Scandal, whether real or manufactured, has largely ousted substance in Washington. The 20-year journey from Watergate to Rubbergate, and the Robespierresque drive to wipe out congressional perks, the cheap haircuts and gym privileges, marks a steep descent from Federalist Papers-profound to be abidingly trivial. "What you'll get in Washington after November," says Minnesota Representative Vin Weber, who won't be returning, "are out-of-shape lawmakers who know how to balance their own checkbooks. "
Assessing earnings management flexibility

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to propose a new measure of earnings management flexibility based on the limits of the allowable set of accruals, prior discretionary accruals used, and the reversal rate of these accruals. Design/methodology/approach - Quarterly financial data from Compustat for the period 1990-2009 were used to construct the flexibility measure. Then the author examined how well this measure captures flexibility by investigating its effect on a firm's probability of meeting analysts' forecasts. Findings - The results show that this flexibility measure better captures the firm-specific flexibility than that of Barton and Simko which captures mainly the difference in flexibility across industries. Further, the positive effect of their measure on a firm's probability of meeting/beating analysts' forecasts is not observed in the extended sample period. Practical implications - The flexibility measure proposed here can assist investors, analysts, or researchers to compare earnings management flexibility across firms in the same industry, which is useful in evaluating the quality of a firm's financial reports, stock picking or credit granting decisions. Originality/value - This paper contributes to the earnings management literature by incorporating both the variation in flexibility used and that in flexibility limits. Second, evidence in this paper suggests that while financial benefits motivate managers to undertake earnings management, flexibility determines the extent of earnings management they can undertake. Third, this study points out that the unreversed discretionary accruals impose a constraint on the level of discretionary accruals a manager can incur in the current period, and hence have an indirect influence on current reported earnings.
Regulation and efficiency in markets with friction

We analyse the efficiency of markets with friction, particularly power markets. We model the market as a dynamic system with {d<inf>t</inf>; t ≥ 0} the demand process and {s<inf>t</inf>; t ≥ 0} the supply process. Using stochastic differential equations to model the dynamics with friction, we investigate the efficiency of the market under an integrated expected cost function. Under this model, an efficiency-volatility tradeoff theorem is presented.
A market-based approach to planning in area surveillance

Area surveillance is the problem of continuously monitoring a given area for intruders or for unexpected events. Recent work has focused on the use of autonomous teams of agents for surveillance, which creates a significant planning problem. We describe an algorithm for planning in area surveillance that uses the recently-developed evolutionary optimisation technique of market-based programming, where agents develop good surveillance plans by trading tasks between them according to self-interested free-market principles. This approach is robust and scalable and it deals well with heterogeneous and dynamic environments. Experiments show that our market-based algorithm can generate good solutions to the area surveillance problem.
Peace and Economic Growth in Developing Countries: Pooled Data Cross -Country Empirical Study.

This paper investigates the impacts of peace on economic growth in developing countries. Fundamental determinants of economic growth such as conflict for self determination, various types of discriminations, regime types, durability of regime, social capacity for building peace and conflict with neighborhood are playing important role through the peace building capacity in determination of economic growth in developing countries rather than proximate determinants of the growth such as capital, labor, technology and liberal market economic policies. Empirical results of pooled data in 70 developing countries during 2000-2004 by using OLS econometric methods shows that peace measured by scores for peace building capacity has positive effects on economic growth directly and indirectly. Peace environment countries have higher growth than conflict countries. Peace reduces uncertainty and risk hence positively contributes to economic growth in present globalization. Peace has positive effect on physical capital accumulation and human capital accumulation. This effect is more significant than other economic determinants of physical and human capital accumulation. The economies which have peace environment accumulate more physical and human capital accumulation and enhance to economic growth rapidly. Peace contributes to economic growth by the ways of increasing of productivity in capital and labor, good governance, tourist arrival and efficient of institutions also. However, conflict and war in past period have positive effect on present economic growth since destruction of economy due to the conflict and war is rehabilitated in following period. According to the findings, this study emphasizes that peace as determinant of economic growth should be incorporated within growth theories the in future.
Temporally adaptive motion interpolation exploiting temporal masking in visual perception

In this paper we present a novel technique to dynamically adapt motion interpolation structures by temporal segmentation. The number of reference frames and the intervals between them are adjusted according to the temporal variation of the input video. Bit-rate control for this dynamic group of pictures (GOP) structure is achieved by taking advantage of temporal masking in human vision. Constant picture quality can be obtained by variable-bit-rate coding using this approach. Further improvement can be made when the intervals between reference frames are chosen by minimizing a measure of the coding difficulty of a GOP. Advantages for low bit-rate coding and implications for variable-bit-rate coding are discussed. Simulations on test video are presented for various GOP structures and temporal segmentation methods, and the results compare favorably with those for conventional fixed GOP structures.
The Role of Trading Volume in the “Volatility Puzzle”

We find that the negative average-return differential between high- and low-volatility stocks -- the so-called "volatility puzzle" -- is particularly more pronounced when both groups of stocks have large trading volume. Conversely, the return differential is completely absent among low-turnover stocks. Such a high turnover-conditional volatility-future return relation is long-lived and present in various segments of the market and in different time-periods -- e.g., in both small and large stocks and during low- as well as high-investor sentiment periods. While the information contents of large trading volume are likely to be multi-dimensional -- thereby allowing for different explanations, our results at least suggest that trading volume is a useful empirical guide to where to (not) find the average return differential between low- and high-volatility stocks. We also illustrate, in a setting that is neutral about market efficiency, how trading volume interacts with volatility and affects future returns.