Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of xanthine oxidase and neutrophils in ischemia-reperfusion injury in rabbit lung.

This study evaluated the effect of ischemia-reperfusion (I-R) on pulmonary capillary permeability in isolated rabbit lungs and the roles of xanthine oxidase (XO), aldehyde oxidase (AO), and neutrophils (PMN) in producing this lung injury. Effects of XO and AO were studied by inactivation with a tungsten-enriched diet (0.7 g/kg) and inhibition of XO by allopurinol (100 microM) or AO by menadione (3.5 microM). PMN effects were studied by preventing endothelial adhesion with the monoclonal antibody IB4 (10 microM). Vascular permeability was evaluated by determining the capillary filtration coefficient (Kf,c) measured before and after I-R in all experimental conditions. Reperfusion after 2 h of ischemia significantly increased pulmonary capillary permeability (Kf,c changed from 0.096 +/- 0.014 to 0.213 +/- 0.025 ml.min-1. cmH2O-1.100 g-1), and this increase was blocked by the addition of catalase (50,000 U) at reperfusion (baseline Kf,c was 0.125 +/- 0.023 and 0.116 +/- 0.014 ml.min-1.cmH2O-1.100 g-1). XO inactivation with the tungsten-supplemented diet and XO inhibition with allopurinol prevented the Kf,c increase observed after I-R (0.183 +/- 0.030 to 0.185 +/- 0.033 and 0.126 +/- 0.018 to 0.103 +/- 0.005 ml.min-1.cmH2O-1.100 g-1). Inhibition of AO had no effect on I-R injury (Kf,c 0.108 +/- 0.011 to 0.167 +/- 0.014 ml.min-1.cmH2O-1.100 g-1). Preventing PMN adhesion resulted in significant attenuation of the change in Kf,c associated with I-R (0.112 +/- 0.032 to 0.090 +/- 0.065 ml.min-1.cmH2O-1.100 g-1). We conclude that XO and PMN adherence, but not AO, are involved in the increased capillary permeability associated with I-R.
Psychoanalysis—With Whom, for What, and How? Comparisons With Psychotherapy

If psychoanalytic treatment is to survive in the era of evidence-based medicine and managed care systems, empirical evidence is needed to demonstrate its unique nature and effectiveness. To address this need, comprehensive analyses were conducted of data from the Menninger Psychotherapy Research Project (Wallerstein 1986). These analyses addressed three questions: (1) What are the differences in outcome between psychoanalysis (PSA) and supportive-expressive psychotherapy (SEP)? (2) With what types of patient, and in what ways, are these two psychodynamic treatments differentially effective? (3) Are these differences in outcome the consequence of possibly different mechanisms of therapeutic action? PSA was found to contribute significantly to the development of adaptive interpersonal capacities and to the reduction of maladaptive interpersonal tendencies, especially with more ruminative, self-reflective, introjective patients, possibly by extending their associative capacities. SEP, by contrast, was effective only in reducing maladaptive interpersonal tendencies and only with dependent, unreflective, more affectively labile anaclitic patients, possibly by containing or limiting their associative capacities.
Equity Rights Issues in Spain: Flotation Costs and Wealth Effects

This paper analyses the flotation costs and the share price reaction of equity offerings in Spain. The results report a positive relationship between relative flotation costs and the underwriting of an issue, and a negative relationship between such costs and ownership concentration. Fixed flotation costs and a negative relationship with the gross offer proceeds are also observed. On average, there is a negative share price reaction on the date of the 'previous communication' to the "Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores". The different sub-samples analysed according to the underwriting of the issue and the discount offered reveal no statistical differences. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 2003.
Mortgage Finance and Housing Provision in Ireland, 1970-90

Mortgage institutions actively shape the character of home-ownership in advanced capitalist economies. An understanding of the forces promoting institutional change and the nature of these changes provides insights into the developing structure of home ownership. Using a 'structures of housing provision' framework, this paper examines the dynamics of the Irish housing market over the period 1970-90. Combining data on macro-level trends in housing finance with information gathered from interviews with senior building society personnel, it is argued that the restructuring of the mortgage market in the 1980s has significantly altered the set of social relations that exist between agents located in the housing market and that these changes are having negative impacts on the owner-occupied sector.
Staphylococcus aureus, phagocyte NADPH oxidase and chronic granulomatous disease

Dysfunction of phagocytes is a relevant risk factor for staphylococcal infection. The most common hereditary phagocyte dysfunction is chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), characterized by impaired generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) due to loss of function mutations within the phagocyte NADPH oxidase NOX2. Phagocytes ROS generation is fundamental to eliminate pathogens and to regulate the inflammatory response to infection. CGD is characterized by recurrent and severe bacterial and fungal infections, with Staphylococcus aureus as the most frequent pathogen, and skin and lung abscesses as the most common clinical entities. Staphylococcus aureus infection may occur in virtually any human host, presumably because of the many virulence factors of the bacterium. However, in the presence of functional NOX2, staphylococcal infections remain rare and are mainly linked to breaches of the skin barrier. In contrast, in patients with CGD, S. aureus readily survives and frequently causes clinically apparent disease. Astonishingly, little is known why S. aureus, which possesses a wide range of antioxidant enzymes (e.g. catalase, SOD), is particularly sensitive to control through NOX2. In this review, we will evaluate the discovery of CGD and our present knowledge of the role of NOX2 in S. aureus infection.
Uniform dispersal of oblivious mobile robots

The research area of uniform dispersal focuses on the minimal capabilities required by mobile robots to solve the problem. Consider the uniform dispersion problem in an unknown connected space which is decomposed into smaller cells. Autonomous robots are injected through an entry point and has to occupy all the cells while avoiding collisions. These robots are considered "weak" in terms of hardware capabilities. They have limited memory, visibility and communication range. When the robots do not have any persistent storage (i.e. without any memory of past positions or actions) they are called oblivious. This paper presents a method which enables oblivious robots to solve the uniform dispersion problem.
Dynamic expression of DKK1 protein in the process whereby Epimedium‐derived flavonoids up‐regulate osteogenic and down‐regulate adipogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells in ovariectomized rats

Objective: To observe the dynamic expression of DKK1 protein in the process whereby Epimedium‐derived flavonoids (EFs) regulate the balance between osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells in ovariectomized rats, and to provide experimental evidence for the mechanism of EFs in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis.
Has Asian Emerging Market Monetary Policy Been Too Procyclical When Responding to Swings in Commodity Prices?

Commodity price fluctuations in recent years have led to wide swings in inflationary pressures across Asian emerging market economies and have revived the discussion on how monetary policy should best react. We argue that the conventional wisdom for emerging market economies of treating commodity price fluctuations as external supply shocks is misguided in the current policy environment. We first present new empirical evidence that global demand shocks have driven commodity prices and inflationary pressures in Asian economies. We then show that the incorrect diagnosis of global demand shocks as external supply shocks leads to suboptimal outcomes in a simple two-country monetary policy model with endogenously determined commodity prices. Given such misdiagnosis risk, the results in this paper strengthen the case for targeting headline inflation as part of a robust monetary policy framework for Asian emerging market economies.Full publication: Globalisation, Inflation and Monetary Policy in Asia and the Pacific
The Evolution of Economic Inequality in the United States, 1969-2012: Evidence from Data on Inter-industrial Earnings and Inter-regional Incomes

This paper provides measures of earnings inequality in the United States across economic sectors, measured within states, from 1969 through 2012, and of income inequality across counties, from 1969 through 2007. These measures permit detailed decomposition of changes in inequality, highlighting the major gainers and losers in relative terms. They illustrate the roles played by the financial sector, by the technology boom, by war-time public spending and by the real estate bubble in driving the evolution of economic inequality in the United States.
Privacy in Competitive Markets

Personal privacy is studied in the context of a competitive product (or labor) market. In the first stage of the game, firms that sell homogeneous goods or services (e.g., insurance, credit, or rental housing) post prices they promise to charge approved applicants. In the second stage, each consumer chooses whether to apply to one of the firms. Next, the firms acquire information about their applicants and sell the good to the ones they approve. Contracts are incomplete in the sense that the amount of information firms acquire cannot be observed. In the unique subgame perfect equilibrium outcome, firms post the lowest price consistent with zero economic profit. Unfortunately, this low price gives them incentives to acquire excessive amounts of information about their applicants. It is shown that this inefficient infringement of privacy is exacerbated if firms have the opportunity to sell customer information. Also, in an effort to preserve privacy, consumers typically demand inefficiently low levels of output. Finally, it is shown that if rejected consumers can continue to apply for the good at different firms, then the resulting adverse selection may seriously undermine the market and generate a situation in which all parties would be better off if no information was collected at all.
COMPETITIVE BIDDING ON IMPORT TENDERS: THE CASE OF MINOR OILSEEDS

A common and noteworthy application of auctions and bidding is that of tendering for imports, used for both price determination and the allocation of purchases among sellers. In this study we develop a model to evaluate bidding strategies and competition and apply it to Egyptian oilseeds imports. Generally, bids could be explained with a relatively high degree of confidence using accessible data. In addition, there appear to be groups of bidders characterized by differences in their bid functions. These statistical results were used to determine optimal bids and evaluate the effects of several critical variables. The results are particularly interesting for understanding sellers' bidding strategies and competition among rivals, as well as impacts of specific variables on optimal bids and payoffs to sellers.
Infrastructure of the "New Age": Telecommunications Planning

Infrastructure building, maintenance, and financing are familiar issues to planners, but only recently has the relationship between economic development and the quality and quantity of infrastructure received much attention. Largely absentfrom this emerging economic development/infrastructure literature, however, is discussion of the importance of telecommunications infrastructure. As the U.S. economy moves away from traditional manufacturing and toward a reliance on knowledge-intense, high-tech servicefirms, access to this infrastructure will be an increasingly criticalfactor in the location of both commercial and residential development. To attract and retain the communications-dependent firms and industries that are driving the information economy, state and local planners must actively provide access to the telecommunications services that these businesses and their skilled laborforces will demand. Clearly, communities must begin to planfor and provide telecommunications infrastructure to promote economic development if they are to avoid being left behind as the United States competes in the internationally based information economy.
Canadian and American Voting Strategies: Does Institutional Socialization Matter?

Abstract. This paper uses data from an online voting experiment to examine the impact of institutional socialization on the vote decision process. More specifically, we examine how Canadian and American voters differ in their vote decision processes in two- and four-party elections. Our expectation is that Canadian voters, who are more familiar with multiparty electoral context, will adjust to the increased complexity of the four-party competition by engaging in a more detailed decision process. Alternatively, we expect US voters, who are less familiar with multiparty competitions, will not undertake such an adjustment, perhaps even engaging in a less detailed vote calculus under more complex conditions. Results lend support to our expectations, offering insight into how institutional design and socialization can affect voter decision processes. Résumé. Cet article utilise des données tirées d'une expérience de vote en ligne pour examiner l'impact de la socialisation institutionnelle sur le processus décisionnel menant au vote. Nous examinons en particulier comment les électeurs canadiens et américains diffèrent dans leur processus décisionnel lors d'élections à deux et à quatre partis. Nos attentes sont les suivantes : Les électeurs canadiens, plus familiers avec le multipartisme, s'ajusteront à la plus grande complexité d'une élection à quatre partis en s'engageant dans un processus décisionnel plus sophistiqué. Les électeurs américains, quant à eux habitués davantage au bipartisme, ne feront pas de tels ajustements lorsque le contexte électoral se complexifiera et auront peut-être même tendance à simplifier leur processus décisionnel. Nos résultats tendent à confirmer nos attentes, offrant ainsi un aperçu de la façon dont le contexte institutionnel et la socialisation qui en résulte peuvent influencer le processus décisionnel des électeurs.
Hindlimb muscle architecture in non‐human great apes and a comparison of methods for analysing inter‐species variation

By relating an animal’s morphology to its functional role and the behaviours performed, we can further develop our understanding of the selective factors and constraints acting on the adaptations of great apes. Comparison of muscle architecture between different ape species, however, is difficult because only small sample sizes are ever available. Further, such samples are often comprised of different age–sex classes, so studies have to rely on scaling techniques to remove body mass differences. However, the reliability of such scaling techniques has been questioned. As datasets increase in size, more reliable statistical analysis may eventually become possible. Here we employ geometric and allometric scaling techniques, and ancovas (a form of general linear model, GLM) to highlight and explore the different methods available for comparing functional morphology in the non‐human great apes. Our results underline the importance of regressing data against a suitable body size variable to ascertain the relationship (geometric or allometric) and of choosing appropriate exponents by which to scale data. ancova models, while likely to be more robust than scaling for species comparisons when sample sizes are high, suffer from reduced power when sample sizes are low. Therefore, until sample sizes are radically increased it is preferable to include scaling analyses along with ancovas in data exploration. Overall, the results obtained from the different methods show little significant variation, whether in muscle belly mass, fascicle length or physiological cross‐sectional area between the different species. This may reflect relatively close evolutionary relationships of the non‐human great apes; a universal influence on morphology of generalised orthograde locomotor behaviours or, quite likely, both.
Disability type influences heart rate response during power wheelchair sport.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of disability type on exercise response during power wheelchair competition. The secondary purpose was to determine the extent to which heart rate responses during competition meet cardiorespiratory fitness training intensities for the general population. METHODS Forty-eight athletes who had cerebral palsy (CP, N = 31), spinal cord injury (SCI, N = 10), or muscular dystrophy (MD, N = 7), and were competing in the 2003 Power Soccer National Tournament, volunteered to participate. Heart rate was recorded every 5 s throughout pre-game and game conditions by Polar S610 monitors. Average heart rate (HR) values were determined for GAME and RESPONSE (change score between GAME HR and pre-game HR). The Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric test was used to determine whether a significant difference among group medians existed on the dependent measure, RESPONSE (P < 0.05). RESULTS A significant difference on RESPONSE (P < 0.05) existed among athletes with CP (29 bpm), SCI (17 bpm), and MD (26 bpm). The median RESPONSE for athletes with CP was 12 bpm higher than athletes with SCI, and this difference was significant (P < 0.01). Further, 22 athletes with CP (71%), 5 athletes with MD (71%), and 1 athlete with SCI (10%) exceeded 55% of estimated HR(max) for at least 30 min during competition. CONCLUSION Disability type influences the heart rate response to power wheelchair sport, and may affect the ability to sustain training intensities associated with fitness improvement.
A Weather Forecasting System using concept of Soft Computing: A new approach

Weather forecasting and warnings are the major services provided by the meteorological profession. Many government and private agencies are working on its behavior but still it is challenging and incomplete. We propose a new technique to construct the learning set of images, which represents the actual data. We relate this data to the forthcoming weather events based on their previous records and history or whatever recognized by our system. Our work presents a new approach where the data explanation is performed with soft computing technique i.e. a neuro-fuzzy system is used to predict meteorological position on the basis of measurements by a weather system designed by us. This model can help us in making forecast of different weather conditions like rain and thunderstorm, sunshine and dry day, and perhaps a cloudy weather i.e. purpose of this model is to represent a warning system for likely adverse conditions. Our model is designed with a concept of Adaptive Forecasting Model(AFD) in the mind. The simple meaning of this term is that our model has potential to capture the complex relationships between many factors that contribute to certain weather conditions. The results are compared with actual working of meteorological department and these results confirm that our model which is based on soft computing have the potential for successful application to weather forecasting. We considered atmospheric pressure a primary key parameter and atmospheric temperature and relative humidity secondary type. We will, however, examine temperature as signature of weather conditions in some typical cases where we could observe the effect of temperature. As an example, the estimations produced by the proposed methodology were applied on different weather forecasting data provided by the Gwalior meteorology center to make the result more practical and believable. The forecasts are always current are based on neuro-fuzzy[2] systems that utilize the concept of soft computing. Real time processing of weather data indicate that the neuro-fuzzy based weather forecast have shown improvement not only over guidance forecasts from numerical models, but over official local weather service forecasts as well.Adaptive Forecasting Model(AFD)
Current Account Deficits, Sudden Stops, and International Reserves Accumulation

This dissertation addresses the causes of and policy responses to the 1990s current account crises. The first chapter explores the relative importance of external shocks as key determinants of the significant increase of foreign reserves accumulated in many emerging market economies, and provides a comprehensive framework to assess the adequacy of reserve holdings. Using the case of Mexico, I find that more than two thirds of the increase in international reserves can be replicated by a linear combination of external shocks, without an abrupt regime shift after the Tequila crisis. I also find that Mexico has historically adopted an appropriate reserves policy, with 1994 being an exception. However, under the current reserves policy, there is a positive probability of a current account crisis in the near future. In chapter Two, I investigate the optimal reserves policy. The analysis predicts an optimal level of reserves in Mexico that is considerably higher than the actual level. When I account for the possibility of a bailout by the outside world in case of a crisis, Mexico’s current reserves policy is in the range of my model’s predictions. The final chapter proposes a new explanation for the existence and nature of sudden stops. In my model, a sudden stop forms a necessary solution to the moral hazard problem in investment and can be rationalized as part of an optimal lending strategy in the face of asymmetric information. i
Comparative prevalence of superantigen genes in Staphylococcus aureus isolates causing sepsis with and without septic shock.

BACKGROUND Staphylococcus aureus superantigens are associated with the pathogenesis of toxic shock syndrome, but their involvement in septic shock is unknown. METHODS We compared the distribution of 11 superantigen genes in S. aureus blood culture isolates obtained from patients with sepsis who did and did not have septic shock (19 and 61 patients, respectively), as well as from patients with suppurative infections (101 patients) and patients with colonization (25 patients). RESULTS The prevalence of the enterotoxin A gene (sea) increased significantly with the severity of infection (P<.001), whereas the prevalence of the enterotoxin gene cluster (egc) decreased significantly (P=.009). CONCLUSION Enterotoxin A (SEA) might play a key role in sea-positive S. aureus sepsis by triggering over-expression of inflammatory mediators associated with shock. Novel treatments targeting superantigens, especially the sea gene, might be beneficial in the treatment of S. aureus sepsis.
ENVIRONMENT FOR THE MDGS

Biofuels are heating up debates and energising activities on many policy fronts. On the surface, they offer significant opportunities to pursue environment and development goals both globally and domestically. There are both synergies and trade-offs between these goals and levels. Trade will drive biofuels growth, yet current trade regimes are not fit for maximising benefits nor minimising risks from the sector. The novelty of biofuels, the vast array of issues involved and the lack of knowledge to tackle many of them, together with diverging political and business interests, mean that consensus is elusive. It is therefore increasingly urgent to map a path for the global biofuels industry that supports sustainable development. Based on a new analysis of the sector, this briefing lays out some of the options for achieving this.