Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Dendritic Peptide Neurogranin Can Regulate a Calmodulin‐Dependent Target

Abstract: Neurogranin, a peptide capable of binding the calcium‐poor form of calmodulin, was tested in vitro for its ability to modulate a typical calmodulin target. The target employed was the calcium/calmodulin‐dependent form of nitric oxide synthase, which is produced by several different types of neurons. Neurogranin for the study was purified from perchloric acid‐soluble calf brain proteins by a combination of calmodulin‐Sepharose affinity chromatography and reverse‐phase HPLC. The protocol yielded highly purified neurogranin that was active in assays using purified nitric oxide synthase. The titration of the enzyme activity with neurogranin demonstrated a concentration‐dependent effect of the peptide on enzyme activation. Subsequent analysis of the ability of increased calcium concentrations to activate the enzyme was performed in the presence of different amounts of neurogranin. The effect of neurogranin on the calcium‐dependent activation of the enzyme was to depress enzyme activity in the range of 0.2 to ∼1 µM calcium. Treatment of the neurogranin peptide with protein kinase C eliminated its inhibition on nitric oxide synthase activation. Treatment of the protein kinase C‐phosphorylated peptide with calcineurin did not restore the ability of neurogranin to inhibit enzyme activity, whereas treatment with alkaline phosphatase did restore this ability. These results suggest that neurogranin may serve as a member of a unique class of endogenous calmodulin inhibitor that functions to regulate the activation of calmodulin‐requiring targets in neurons.
Does the Recruitment of Excitation and Inhibition in the Motor Cortex Differ?

Summary: The level of excitability within the motor cortex can be described as a balance between excitation and inhibition, but it is unknown how well both processes correlate. To address this question, the authors measured motor cortical excitability and inhibition in healthy human subjects, comparing the recruitment of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) and the duration of the cortical silent period (CSP) after transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Single-pulse “focal” TMS was applied at intensities varying between 90% and 200% of motor thresholds to the right motor cortex of 15 healthy volunteers. The peak-to peak size of MEP responses and the duration of the CSP were measured in small hand muscles. Stimulus-response (S-R) curves were constructed by plotting the MEP size and CSP duration against stimulus intensities. The absolute duration of CSP and the size MEPs correlated significantly and to a similar extent with stimulus intensity (r = 0.60 and 0.53, respectively). The slope of the MEP-S-R was steeper compared with CSP-S-R, particularly at low stimulation intensities. CSP duration saturated earlier and CSP-S-Rs were shifted upwards at a given stimulus intensity compared with MEP-S-Rs. The findings suggest that recruitment of inhibition and excitation within the sensorimotor cortex correlate. However, inhibitory effects are recruited at lower intensities and saturate earlier than excitation.
Lobbying Incentives and the Pattern of Protection in Rich and Poor Countries

In seeking to explain why poor countries tend to choose policies that tax agriculture relative to manufacturing while rich countries do the opposite, archetypical parameters for a poor agrarian economy and a rich industrial one are inserted in a computable general equilibrium model to simulate the medium-term effects on income distribution of policies that distort the relative prices of tradables. The model includes a non-tradables sector and intermediate inputs, realistic features that ensure even greater skewness in the distributional effects of protection than simpler models suggest. The magnitude of the results helps explain the tendency for countries to change gradually from taxing to subsidizing agriculture relative to manufacturing as their economies develop. The paper draws out the implications of the analysis for agricultural and trade policy reform in the 1990s.
A CONSISTENT PRICING MODEL FOR INDEX OPTIONS AND VOLATILITY DERIVATIVES

We propose a flexible framework for modeling the joint dynamics of an index and a set of forward variance swap rates written on this index. Our model reproduces various empirically observed properties of variance swap dynamics and enables volatility derivatives and options on the underlying index to be priced consistently, while allowing for jumps in volatility and returns. An affine specification using Lévy processes as building blocks leads to analytically tractable pricing formulas for volatility derivatives, such as VIX options, as well as efficient numerical methods for pricing of European options on the underlying asset. The model has the convenient feature of decoupling the vanilla skews from spot/volatility correlations and allowing for different conditional correlations in large and small spot/volatility moves. We show that our model can simultaneously fit prices of European options on S&P 500 across strikes and maturities as well as options on the VIX volatility index.
Endogenous tie formation mechanisms in a directed network generated by employee mobility

This study investigates mechanisms of tie formation in an interorganizational network generated by the mobility of employees between organizations. We analyze a data set that contains information on all organizations in the Stockholm metropolitan area between 1990 and 2003. We show that the formation of new ties is contingent upon the direction of past ties, and that most connections occur at an intermediate geodesic distance of 2 and 3. The findings highlight the importance of tie direction and indirect connections in research on network dynamics and knowledge exchanges stemming from the mobility of employees across organizations.
A wild‐type p53 cytotoxic T cell epitope is presented by mouse hepatocarcinoma cells

The possibility to identify epitopes presented by tumor cells to cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) has given rise to new fields in tumor immunology. The tumor suppressor gene product p53 is a good candidate antigen because it is involved in the tumorigenesis of many cancers. It accumulates in an inactivated form due to mutation or formation of heterodimers with an oncogene product. Epitopes from the mutant or wild‐type p53 proteins are thought to be presented by tumor cells and to induce a tumor‐specific CTL response. To identify such epitopes, mouse wild‐type p53 peptides encompassing the H‐2 Db anchoring motif were tested for their association with the Db molecule. Positive peptides were assayed for their ability to induce CTL in C57BL/6 mice. CTL specific for one wild‐type p53 peptide, p232–240, were isolated and found to lyse hepatocarcinoma cell lines established from mice transgenic for simian virus 40 large T antigen which overexpress p53. These results show that the p232–240 epitope from wild‐type p53 is naturally processed and presented in H‐2b tumor cells.
Revisiting Cauty's proof of the Schauder conjecture

The Schauder conjecture that every compact convex subset of a metric linear space has the fixed-point property was recently established by Cauty (2001). This paper elaborates on Cauty's proof in order to make it more detailed, and therefore more accessible. Such a detailed analysis allows us to show that the convex compacta in metric linear spaces possess the simplicial approximation property introduced by Kalton, Peck, and Roberts. The latter demonstrates that the original Schauder approach to solve the conjecture is in some sense correctable. 
Legislators, Leaders, and Lawmaking: The U.S. House of Representatives in the Postreform Era

Although Congress has never been popular, it has in recent years been the subject of particularly relentless and bitter criticism: gridlock is the central problem plaguing American government, say many, and Congress is to blame. According to Barbara Sinclair, the contemporary political environment has made legislating extraordinarily difficult. Huge deficits and, until 1993, deep policy differences between the president and congressional majorities have complicated already difficult choices. In this context, Sinclair asks, how has House not only performed its legislative functions but also managed to enhance its role in the American political system? In Legislators, Leaders, and Lawmaking Sinclair traces the emergence during the 1980s House majority party leadership that is highly active and deeply involved in multiple aspects of legislative process, but one that leads by means of a participatory and inclusive style. Drawing on extensive interviews with House members, staffs, and informed observers, she describes the changing role of the leadership from the prereform period, through the immediate post reform years, to the present. The reforms of the 1970s, Sinclair argues, combined with the constraints of the 1980s political environment to give effective leadership an importance in the legislative process unprecedented in the modem era. As a result, the book's focus on party leadership provides a vantage point for understanding the legislative process in the House and the major changes that process has undergone in the last several decades.
Determination of suppliers' optimal quantity discount schedules with heterogeneous buyers

Although the quantity discount problem has been extensively studied in the realm of a single supplier and a single buyer, it is not well understood when a supplier has many different buyers. This paper presents an analysis of a supplier's quantity discount decision when there are many buyers with different demand and cost structures. A common discrete all‐unit quantity discount schedule with many break points is used. After formulating the model, we first analyze buyers' responses to a general discrete quantity discount schedule. This analysis establishes a framework for a supplier to formulate his quantity discount decision. Under this framework, the supplier's optimal quantity discount schedule can be formulated and solved by a simple non‐linear programming model. The applicability of the model is discussed with an application for a large U.S. distribution network. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 49: 46–59, 2002; DOI 10.1002/nav.1052
A note on firm age and the margins of imports: first evidence from Germany

This article uses a new tailor-made data set to investigate the link between firm age and the extensive margins of imports empirically for the first time for Germany. Results turn out to be fully in line with the theoretical considerations. Older firms are more often importers, import more different goods, and import from more different countries of origin.
Exploring the Effects of Heritage Site Image on Souvenir Shopping Attitudes: The Moderating Role of Perceived Cultural Difference

ABSTRACT Although tourism image and souvenir shopping play critical roles in travel decisions and tourist behaviors, little is known about the relationship between them. This article seeks to address two deficits in the literature by presenting (1) the linkage between tourism image and souvenir shopping and (2) the direct and moderating effects of perceived cultural difference. Using the data drawn from UNESCO heritage sites, the authors first validated a second-order construct of heritage site image, then tested the effects of this construct and perceived cultural difference on tourists’ attitudes toward souvenir shopping in two structural models. The uncovered direct and moderated results offer important implications for tourism and hospitality theories and practice.
Corporate Social Responsibility: A capitalist ideology?

The field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been embraced globally by modern corporate entities of all shapes and forms. Advocates of the field argue that corporations that are perceived by society as being socially responsible are likely to derive enormous benefits from being so. They argue that most stakeholders whether primary or secondary, internal or external, local or national offer their support of the actions of these socially responsible corporations. Most would agree that corporate responsibility is an excellent idea, but from where did the ideology of CSR originate? An examination of the literature has given no conclusive evidence as to whether CSR is a capitalists’ doctrine; in fact the literature is unusually silent in this respect, perhaps it is assumed that we all know. However, after examining the activities that stem from the ideology and considering the presence of the word ‘social’ in its very name one may deduce that CSR is a socialist doctrine. What history has preceded the evolution of CSR in today’s corporation? Why are multinational corporations from these capitalists’ states now exporting the ideology throughout the world? Is CSR representative of a new form of capitalist ideology? These are some of the issues that this study will explore in depth in order to establish the origins of CSR practiced by capitalist corporations in the 21st century.
The Uruguay Round and the developing economies

This discussion paper contains thirteen studies designed to assess the economic impact of the Uruguay Round on the developing economies. Some of the key conclusions to emerge from the study include the following: the agriculture agreement achieved a great deal in terms of defining rules for agricultural trade, but little in terms of immediate market opening. The substantial cuts in tariffs on manufactures in both developing and industrial countries, and the agreement to abolish the Multifiber Arrangement, will provide important benefits for developing countries. Cuts in protection on total merchandise trade will increase real incomes in developing countries by between 1.2 and 2.0 percent of their GDP in 1992. The establishment of the World Trade Organization will strengthen the world trading system. Earlier versions of the papers were presented at a conference held at the World Bank in January 1995. The analyses contained in this volume are the first in which estimates of the effects of the Round were based entirely on the actual cuts in protection from previously prevailing rates achieved by the Round.
Spatial Labor Markets and the Rural Labor Force

Functional economic areas have long been recognized as the appropriate unit of analysis for examining the spatial organization of regional economic activity. While easily defined conceptually, few fine-tuned empirical delineations based on either trading or commuting patterns have been produced. In this paper, labor market areas (LMAs) based on commuting patterns of Saskatchewan residents are constructed for two points in time, 1981 and 1991. Detailed Statistics Canada data on place of work and place of residence for the experienced labor force were used 38 distinct LMAs were identified for 1991, and 37 for 1981. The 15 largest LMAs, which included just under one-half of all rural municipalities (RMs) in southern Saskatchewan, grew in absolute terms and gained in relative importance during the decade. Another 23 (22) smaller LMAs in 1991 (1981), provided jobs for modest but declining numbers of both commuters and noncommuters. The remaining 30 percent of all RMs had such low or diffused levels of commuting that they were not included in any LMA in either year. A pattern apparent for all LMAs was an intensification of commuting within the labor market area. Although there was a reduction in the number of commuters from centers of employment to surrounding areas between 1981 and 1991, there was an even larger increase in commuters to centers of employment. While commuting to a job in an urban center is still a distinct possibility for the rural labor force living within the 15 largest LMAs, it is increasingly less likely for those residing elsewhere in rural Saskatchewan. In these remote areas, alternatives to urban-based employment are required.
Antenna diagnostics for power flow in extreme near-field of a standard gain horn

The plane wave spectrum of an aperture antenna can be calculated from a complex measurement of the radiated near- or far-field and it facilitates antenna diagnostics for the extreme near-field of the antenna. While antenna diagnostics often concerns the magnitude of the co-polar field, the plane wave spectrum actually allows for determination of both magnitude and phase of all three components of the electric as well as the magnetic field - and thus also the Poynting vector. In this work we focus on the Poynting vector and thus the power flow in the extreme near-field; as an example we employ a 60 GHz standard gain horn. Measurements obtained with a planar near-field antenna measurement set-up reveal that the power flow has not only a normal component - but also tangential components - in the aperture and, furthermore, that these components possess oscillations along the E-plane. We show that these oscillations are not merely a “Gibbs-like” phenomenon due to the availability of only the visible region of the plane wave spectrum and they are not caused by multiple reflections between the horn and the near-field probe - but resulted from the interference between the direct field and the edge-diffracted fields in the horn aperture. An analytical model based on the Geometrical Theory of Diffraction is established, and it is demonstrated that this model qualitatively as well as quantitatively predicts the measurement results for the power flow. A full-wave analysis is carried out and the simulation results show qualitatively the intricate physical mechanism of the power flow distribution.
Application of ERS-1 wind scatterometer data to soil frost and soil moisture monitoring in boreal forest zone

The feasibility of the ERS-1 Wind Scatterometer (WS) for monitoring the boreal forest zone is investigated, concentrating on soil frost and soil moisture monitoring. The ERS-1 WS measures the target area with coarse spatial resolution (about 50 km) using three separate antenna beams and a wide angular range. The investigations are concerned with the boreal forest zone using data (1) from test areas located in Finland and (2) covering the whole northern European boreal forest zone. The seasonal behavior of WS data is studied and a semiempirical forest backscattering model-based inversion method for the retrieval of soil moisture and for soil frost monitoring from WS data is developed. The developed inversion method employs nearly simultaneous three-beam measurements and a varying incidence angle. Promising results were obtained in the monitoring of soil frost, and the retrieval of soil moisture also appears to be a feasible field of application. The applicability of the instrument for forest biomass retrieval using single images was found to be limited to long-term change detection.
Validity and Reliability of the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10)

Objectives: The Eating Assessment Tool is a self-administered, symptom-specific outcome instrument for dysphagia. The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the 10-item Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10). Methods: The investigation consisted of 4 phases: 1) line-item generation, 2) line-item reduction and reliability, 3) normative data generation, and 4) validity analysis. All data were collected prospectively. Internal consistency was assessed with the Cronbach alpha. Test-retest reliability was evaluated with the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient. Normative data were obtained by administering the instrument to a community cohort of healthy volunteers. Validity was assessed by administering the instrument before and after dysphagia treatment and by evaluating survey differences between normal persons and those with known diagnoses. Results: A total of 629 surveys were administered to 482 patients. The internal consistency (Cronbach alpha) of the final instrument was 0.960. The test-retest intra-item correlation coefficients ranged from 0.72 to 0.91. The mean (±SD) EAT-10 score of the normal cohort was 0.40 ± 1.01. The mean EAT-10 score was 23.58 ± 13.18 for patients with esophageal dysphagia, 23.10 ± 12.22 for those with oropharyngeal dysphagia, 9.19 ± 12.60 for those with voice disorders, 22.42 ± 14.06 for those with head and neck cancer, and 11.71 ± 9.61 for those with reflux. The patients with oropharyngeal and esophageal dysphagia and a history of head and neck cancer had a significantly higher EAT-10 score than did those with reflux or voice disorders (p < 0.001). The mean EAT-10 score of the patients with dysphagia improved from 19.87 ± 10.5 to 5.2 ± 7.4 after treatment (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The EAT-10 has displayed excellent internal consistency, test-retest reproducibility, and criterion-based validity. The normative data suggest that an EAT-10 score of 3 or higher is abnormal. The instrument may be utilized to document the initial dysphagia severity and monitor the treatment response in persons with a wide array of swallowing disorders.
CONSERVADORISMO CONTÁBIL E TIMELINESS: EVIDÊNCIAS EMPÍRICAS NAS DEMONSTRAÇÕES CONTÁBEIS DE EMPRESAS BRASILEIRAS COM ADRS NEGOCIADOS NA BOLSA DE NOVA IORQUE

This study investigates the timeliness and the degree of conservatism in fi statements disclosed by Brazilian companies with ADRs traded on the New York Stock Exchange. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), those companies must disclose accounting information according to the Brazilian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (BR GAAP) as well as the United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP). The data were collected between 1999 and 2004 and the Basu Model (BASU, 1997) was applied to evaluate earnings timeliness and conservatism. The results are: (1) there is no difference in earnings conservatism and (2) earnings according to the BR GAAP are more timely than those according to the US GAAP. The evidence contributes to the current debate about the role of Brazil in the current stage of the convergence process.
Social Democracy vs. Socialism: Goal Adaptation in Social Democratic Sweden

RECENTLY, a debate between two leading Left intellectuals, Adam Przeworski and Gosta Esping-Anderson, has re-ignited scholarly interest in the century-old question Can social-democratic reformism lead to a socialist transformation? Each of these authors brings powerful analytic skills and a wealth of information about the politics and development of European socialdemocratic polities to this question. Each reaches fundamentally different
Immunochemical and immunocytochemical characterization of a novel monoclonal antibody recognizing a 140 kDa protein in cerebral pericytes of the rat.

A monoclonal antibody that recognizes a 140 kDa peripheral plasma membrane protein in pericytes of nervous tissues of the rat is described. Microvessels of brain cortex and perineurium of peripheral nerves are shown to react positively to this antibody. The antigen is absent in brain regions that lack a blood-brain barrier, i.e., choroid plexuses and area postrema. Antigen expression starts as early as day 18 of embryonic development. By means of immunoelectron microscopy the 140 kDa antigen was detected as clusters along the entire circumference of cerebral pericytes. The same antigenic determinant is also expressed in apical domains of plasma membranes of a variety of transporting epithelia, such as hepatocytes, enterocytes of the small intestine, and epithelial cells of proximal tubules of the kidney. We postulate the 140 kDa protein as being a constituent of the pericytes involved in regulative functions of the blood-brain barrier.