Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Charged residue alterations in the inner‐core domain and carboxy‐terminus of α‐tropomyosin differentially affect mouse cardiac muscle contractility

Two important charge differences between the α‐ and β‐tropomyosin (TM) isoforms are the exchange of a serine residue in the inner‐core region at position 229, and a histidine residue at the carboxy‐terminal end at position 276, with glutamic acid and asparagine, respectively. We have recently shown that altering these two residues in α‐TM to their β‐TM counterparts in transgenic (TG) mouse hearts causes a depression in both +dP/dt and −dP/dt and a decrease in calcium sensitivity. In this study, we address whether independent charge changes at these two residues in α‐TM modulate cardiac function differentially. To test this hypothesis we generated two TG lines: α‐TMSer229Glu and α‐TMHis276Asn. Molecular analyses show that 98% of native α‐TM is replaced by mutated protein in α‐TM229 hearts whereas α‐TM276 hearts show 82% replacement with the mutated protein. Isolated working heart data show that α‐TM229 TG hearts exhibit a significant decrease in both +dP/dt (7%) and −dP/dt (8%) compared with nontransgenics (NTGs) and time to peak pressure (TPP) is also reduced in α‐TM229 hearts. α‐TM276 hearts show a decrease only in −dP/dt (14%) and TPP is increased. pCa2+–tension relationships in skinned fibre preparations indicate decreased calcium sensitivity in α‐TM229 but no change in α‐TM276 preparations. Force–[Ca2+]IC measurements from intact papillary fibres indicate that α‐TM276 fibres produce more force per given [Ca2+]IC when compared to NTG fibres, while α‐TM229 fibres produce less force per given [Ca2+]IC. These data demonstrate that changing charged residues at either the inner‐core domain or the carboxyl end of TM alters sarcomeric performance differently, suggesting that the function of TM is compartmentalized along its length.
Persistence of antibiotics in blood of patients with acute renal failure. III. Penicillin, streptomycin, erythromycin and kanamycin.

In the preceding papers, one dealing with tetracycline and chlortetracycline (2) and the other with chloramphenicol (3), the circumstances under which these drugs would be expected to accumulate in the blood of patients with renal failure were indicated. Dosage regimens were outlined which took into account the limitations imposed by renal disease on the elimination of these drugs. The present report presents the results of studies on the persistence of four additional antibiotics; penicillin, streptomycin, erythromycin and kanamycin, following their administration to patients with severe renal failure. Since anuria may be considered to represent the maximumimpairment of renal function as seen in man, emphasis was placed on the study of patients in this state in determining the maximum contribution of nonrenal factors toward the elimination or inactivation of these drugs under the physiological limitations of uremia. The findings should prove helpful in delineating the optimum dosage regimens for these drugs in patients with markedly impaired renal function.
Getting Lost: Directed Attention and Executive Functions in Early Alzheimer’s Disease Patients

This study explores the link between directed attention (DA) and getting lost behavior (GLB) in early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) using a cross-sectional design with 3 groups. Based on their dementia levels, 116 community-dwelling participants were recruited from a teaching hospital in Taiwan and classified as the non-demented control, questionably demented, and mild AD groups. Statistical analyses include Pearson correlations, one-way ANOVA, and multiple regressions. Attentional impairments, consisting of distractibility, impulsivity, and executive function problems, significantly predict GLB in familiar and unfamiliar environments. Irritability and executive function problems are associated with mental difficulties in choosing a turn, whereas the use of way-finding strategies reduces GLB. Future interventions may include: (a) mental hygiene of aging; (b) programs targeted at improving attentional function and effective way-finding, and (c) inclusion of DA tests in a routine clinical neuropsychological examination for early detection and accurate diagnosis of dementia.
The Effectiveness of Fiscal Policy in Stimulating Economic Activity: A Review of the Literature

This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on the effectiveness of fiscal policy. The focus is on the size of fiscal multipliers, and on the possibility that multipliers can turn negative (i.e., that fiscal contractions can be expansionary). The paper concludes that fiscal multipliers are overwhelmingly positive but small. However, there is some evidence of negative fiscal multipliers.
The Incremental Information Content of Accruals: Evidence Based on the Exponential Smoothing of Levels and Trends in Pre‐Tax Earnings, Funds Flow and Cash Flow

By arranging the accrual accounting identity as a hierarchy of market response models, this paper investigates whether current and noncurrent accruals have incremental information content beyond earnings. The results indicate that the increase in explanatory power attributable to funds flow and cash flow disclosure can be improved upon by estimating the surprises in reported numbers by exponentially weighting prior values. The unexpected information simplifies to the weighted sum of deviations from the estimated level and estimated trend. Further improvements are obtained by allowing components of the error to vary with time and by company in a non-autoregressive, homoscedastic pooling scheme which takes account of the joint presence of time series disturbance and cross sectional disturbance. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1997.
Foreign Entry into U.S. Service Industry by Takeovers and the Creation of New Firms

type="main" xml:id="coep12121-abs-0001"> We study the relation between foreign entry in U.S. service sector industries and the revealed comparative advantage of the investing country using U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis firm-level data on all foreign takeovers and new foreign-owned firms from 1998 to 2008. We find foreign acquisitions in the service sector are in industries of U.S. comparative advantage while new foreign firms are in industries of investing country's comparative advantage. This suggests that foreign acquisitions in the service sector are not directly related to foreign investors' competitiveness in the industry of investment. In contrast foreign investors in new service sector firms come from countries with a competitive edge in the industries of investment. We also find that foreign investors of new service sector firms are from Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries with a comparative disadvantage in royalties and trademarks. ( JEL F21, F23, G34)
Modulation spectrum-based speech parameter trajectory smoothing for DNN-based speech synthesis using FFT spectra

This paper investigates the effect of Modulation Spectrum (MS)-based preprocessing for Deep Neural Network (DNN)-based speech synthesis using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) spectra. Preprocessing of speech of training data is an effective approach to improve an accuracy of acoustic model training. We have proposed the MS-based preprocessing called "speech parameter trajectory smoothing" for DNN-based speech synthesis using vocoder parameters and confirmed that the process improves training accuracy by removing components that are hard to be modeled with the acoustic models. On the other hand, DNN-based speech synthesis using FFT spectra was recently proposed, and it has a big potential for application wider than ever. This paper investigates whether the trajectory smoothing of the FFT spectra is effective or not. The experimental evaluation demonstrates that the trajectory smoothing reduces mean squared error between the predicted and target FFT spectra.
Current status and future prospect of Phase Change Memory

This paper reviews recent progress and future outlook of PRAM as a promising candidate for emerging non-volatile memory. Electrical characteristics and reliability issues of PRAM with scale-down of the device dimension are discussed. Despite remarkable progress of PRAM properties in recent last decades, there are still several fundamental issues to resolve for broadening its application area. Several suggestions to overcome these property issues are introduced with recent experimental results.
Firm and sectoral heterogeneity in markup variability

Many theoretical models assume that the markup of price over marginal costs is the same for all firms in a sector, irrespective of firm size, type, or efficiency. We analyze the distribution of markups for 70 Finnish sectors using a complete dataset, including both manufacturing and services sectors and firms of all sizes. In contrast to the constant markup hypothesis, we find (i) large differences in markups within sectors, (ii) higher markups for small firms and domestic firms, and (iii) greater markup heterogeneity in sectors with low capital-labour ratios and a large number of firms.
Time course of the change in optic nerve head circulation after an acute increase in intraocular pressure.

PURPOSE To investigate the time course of changes in optic nerve head (ONH) circulation after an acute increase in intraocular pressure (IOP), by using the laser speckle method, and to evaluate the effects of a calcium antagonist, the nitric oxide synthetase inhibitor, indomethacin, or sympathetic nerve amputation on the response in ONH circulation after an acute increase in IOP. METHODS In rabbits, the normalized blur (NB) level, a quantitative index of tissue blood velocity in the ONH, was monitored for 60 minutes after an increase in IOP from 20 mm Hg to 40, 50, or 60 mm Hg and for 25 seconds after increase in IOP from 20 mm Hg to 50 or 60 mm Hg with high time resolution. The effects of systemic administration of 1 micro g/kg per hour nilvadipine (a calcium antagonist), 30 mg/kg N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine (L-NAME), or 5 mg/kg indomethacin, or those of sympathetic nerve amputation on the time course of the changes in NB were studied. RESULTS NB showed a quick recovery within several seconds after increase in IOP to 40 or 50 mm Hg, whereas no or little recovery occurred after an increase to 60 mm Hg. The nilvadipine treatment significantly increased NB at IOP of 20 mm Hg (baseline NB, P = 0.045) and apparently impaired the recovery of NB after the increase in IOP. After L-NAME administration, baseline NB significantly decreased (P = 0.028), and the NB recovery time was slightly but significantly prolonged (P = 0.012). Indomethacin showed no effects on baseline NB or NB recovery. Sympathetic nerve amputation increased baseline NB (P = 0.027), but did not influence NB recovery. CONCLUSIONS The current results showed a quick recovery response in the ONH circulation after an acute increase in IOP in rabbits. A calcium antagonist impaired the response. Production of nitric oxide or prostaglandins or the sympathetic nervous system is probably not mainly responsible for the reaction.
Curve fitting approach to motion planning of nonholonomic chained systems

A simple general motion planning approach for nonholonomic mechanical systems of chained from is proposed, in which the intricate motion planning problem (steering the system from an initial state to a final state) is converted to a simple curve fitting problem (satisfying a set of end-point conditions). By means of this approach, other geometric constraints can be easily handled, while the control inputs can be derived directly from the smooth path planned. For verifying the effectiveness of the proposed approach, a number of simulations are conducted with respect to a three-input firetruck (two-chain system).
Simple Econometrics of Pesticide Productivity

This paper develops a multioutput generalization of the Lichtenberg-Zilberman damage-control technology. The dual representation of the technology is shown to be conditionally additive in the price of abatement activities and other prices. An econometric procedure for estimating the dual technology is developed and applied to an aggregate U.S. agricultural data set. The conditionally additive nature of the model allows estimation of pest damage from the dual technology. Our estimates of aggregate U.S. pest damage are much lower than previous estimates.
Key Skills Framework: Enhancing Employability within a Lifelong Learning Paradigm

Employability has become an area of interest among the general public and policy makers alike, with an increasing number of reports in the general media regarding the need for workers in certain sectors to up-skill due to the possible threat of job 'displacement'. In addition, education and training policy documents emphasising that citizens should pursue Life Long Learning/Life Wide Learning to address the increased job related uncertainty attributed to the globalisation process and the concomitant competitive threats. Academics such as Barnett (2005) claim that we are living in an era of 'super complexity' and rapid change where even trade unions are beginning to come to terms with the notion that in the present employment climate 'change is a given rather then an exception'. Within this proposition of change, of global economics, of mobility of capital and labour, and social flux, the Irish economy has out-preformed many of her fellow European Union member states in terms of both GDP and GNP. However the pertinent question now posed is how will Ireland maintain this competitive advantage moving forward? While the answer to this question is multi-dimensional and complex, requiring the expert inputs from various academics, professional bodies, and other interested parties, there is nonetheless a growing acceptance that education and training are fundamental to the development of a sustainable solution. This working paper presents a conceptual framework and signposts a research process presently being utilised by a research team to explore employability and a social construct. As such the reader is present with emergent work and invited to make a contribution to this early stage of the research process.
Heteroscedasticity or Production Risk? A Synthetic View

Two veins of literature, namely, production risk literature and stochastic frontier analysis, are examined. Both fields are concerned of output variation; the former due to exogenous shocks, the latter due inefficiency. By covering the literature from both the fields, this review suggests that the concept of heteroscedasticity can be utilized to build a synthesis between these mainly separate branches of literature. However, the synthetic approach brings a challenge how to differentiate between different sources of output variation. This challenge is identified as the main obstacle to meaningfully combine the two approaches.
Embedding Evidence‐based Practice Education into a Post‐graduate Physiotherapy Program: Eight Years of pre‐Post Course Evaluations

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Little has been published about the effectiveness of training postgraduate physiotherapy coursework students in research methods and evidence-based practice (EBP) theory. Graduate qualities in most universities include lifelong learning. Inclusion of EBP in post-graduate coursework students' training is one way for students to develop the knowledge and skills needed to implement current best evidence in their clinical practice after graduation, thereby facilitating lifelong learning. This paper reports on change in confidence and anxiety in knowledge of statistical terminology and concepts related to research design and EBP in eight consecutive years of post-graduate physiotherapy students at one Australian university. METHODS Pre-survey/post-survey instruments were administered to students in an intensive 3-week post-graduate course, which taught health research methods, biostatistics and EBP. This course was embedded into a post-graduate physiotherapy programme from 2007 to 2014. The organization and delivery of the course was based on best pedagogical evidence for effectively teaching adult physiotherapists. The course was first delivered each year in the programme, and no other course was delivered concurrently. RESULTS There were significant improvements in confidence, significantly decreased anxiety and improvements in knowledge of statistical terminology and concepts related to research design and EBP, at course completion. Age, gender and country of origin were not confounders on learning outcomes, although there was a (non-significant) trend that years of practice negatively impacted on learning outcomes (p = 0.09). There was a greater improvement in confidence in statistical terminology than in concepts related to research design and EBP. CONCLUSION An intensive teaching programme in health research methods and biostatistics and EBP, based on best practice adult physiotherapy learning principles, is effective immediately post-course, in decreasing anxiety and increasing confidence in the terminology used in research methods and EBP. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Measurement Effects and the Variance of Returns after Stock Splits and Stock Dividends

This article examines the relation between two factors affecting stock returns, the bid-ask spread and price discreteness, and the increase in return variance after ex-dates of stock splits and stock dividends. Controlling for these effects, the variance of daily returns still increases significantly. The variance of weekly returns also increases significantly, and the variance of returns for a control sample of nonsplitting firms shows no significant increase. Variance ratio tests show that bid-ask errors are small for these stocks and therefore cannot explain the large increase in variance. Spreads and price discreteness do not explain increased variance after stock distributions. Article published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Financial Studies in its journal, The Review of Financial Studies.
Stereoselective Reduction of Ethyl 4-Chloro-3-Oxobutanoate by a Microbial Aldehyde Reductase in an Organic Solvent-Water Diphasic System

Enzyme-catalyzed asymmetric reduction of ethyl 4-chloro-3-oxobutanoate in an organic solvent-water diphasic system was studied. NADPH-dependent aldehyde reductase isolated from Sporobolomyces salmonicolor AKU4429 and glucose dehydrogenase were used as catalysts for reduction of ethyl 4-chloro-3-oxobutanoate and recycling of NADPH, respectively, in this system. In an aqueous system, the substrate was unstable. Inhibition of the reaction and inactivation of the enzymes by the substrate and the product were also observed. An n-butyl acetate-water diphasic system very efficiently overcame these limitations. In a 1,600-ml−1,600-ml scale diphasic reaction, ethyl (R)-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutanoate (0.80 mol; 86% enantiomeric excess) was produced from the corresponding oxoester in a molar yield of 95.4% with an NADPH turnover of 5,500 mol/mol.
Defining Protocols of Systematic Literature Reviews in Software Engineering: A Survey

Context: Despite being defined during the first phase of the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) process, the protocol is usually refined when other phases are performed. Several researchers have reported their experiences in applying SLRs in Software Engineering (SE) however, there is still a lack of studies discussing the iterative nature of the protocol definition, especially how it should be perceived by researchers conducting SLRs. Objective: The main goal of this study is to perform a survey aiming to identify: (i) the perception of SE researchers related to protocol definition; (ii) the activities of the review process that typically lead to protocol refinements; and (iii) which protocol items are refined in those activities. Method: A survey was performed with 53 SE researchers. Results: Our results show that: (i) protocol definition and pilot test are the two activities that most lead to further protocol refinements; (ii) data extraction form is the most modified item. Besides that, this study confirmed the iterative nature of the protocol definition. Conclusions: An iterative pilot testcan facilitate refinements in the protocol.
Contributions of Productivity and Relative Price Changes to Farm‐Level Profitability Change

This article investigates the sources of profitability change at the farm level, by farm size and specialization, with an application to a sample of 256 farms in Kansas from 1993 to 2010. Using the Lowe index method, profitability change is decomposed into changes in total factor productivity and terms of trade. The nonparametric data envelopment analysis method is used to further decompose total factor productivity into technical change and different measures of output-oriented efficiency change. Finally, the system-Generalized Methods of Moments approach is employed to investigate the dynamic relationship between different components of productivity on farm profitability. Results indicate that profitability change is mainly driven by total factor productivity change. The main source of total factor productivity change is technical change. The upward-shifting frontier results in declining technical efficiency. Results point towards the need to support research and development without ignoring efforts to encourage the uptake of existing technologies.
What determines the price of a racing horse?

This article uses the data of 10 auctions from the two largest Australian auction houses to study how a racing horse is priced. We ask whether bloodline is indeed a determining factor. We find that the track record of its parents and siblings are important factors in determining the price of a yearling. Moreover, more mature horses and those purchased by foreign buyers are generally more expensive. We also show that racing horses sold in the flagship auctions are associated with a significant premium.
Strategic Motives for Vertical Separation: Evidence from Retail Gasoline Markets

Manufacturers can choose to remain separate from their retailers for both incentive and strategic reasons. In this article, strategic motives for vertical separation are examined empirically. Two datasets are used for the assessment. The first is a cross section of all contracts between private, integrated oil companies and their branded service stations in the city of Vancouver, whereas the second is a panel of price and sales data for a subset of the firms in this market. I find that operators of stations that could potentially realize an improvement in price/cost margin due to separation are more likely to be given the authority to set retail prices. Copyright 1998 by Oxford University Press.
Cloning and expression of zebrafish genes encoding the heme synthesis enzymes uroporphyrinogen III synthase (UROS) and protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO)

Heme is synthesized from glycine and succinyl CoA by eight heme synthesis enzymes. Although genetic defects in any of these enzymes are known to cause severe human blood diseases, their developmental expression in mammals is unknown. In this paper, we report two zebrafish heme synthesis enzymes, uroporphyrinogen III synthase (UROS) and protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO) that are well conserved in comparison to their human counterparts. Both UROS and PPO formed pairs of bilateral stripes in the lateral plate mesoderm at the 15-somite stage. At 24 h post-fertilization (hpf), UROS and PPO were predominantly expressed in the intermediate cell mass (ICM) that is the major site of primitive hematopoiesis. The expression of UROS and PPO was drastically suppressed in the bloodless mutants cloche and vlad tepes/gata 1 from 15-somite to 24hpf stages, indicating that both cloche and vlad tepes/gata 1 are required for the induction and maintenance of UROS and PPO expression in the ICM.