Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ketamine attenuates osteoarthritis of the knee via modulation of inflammatory responses in a rabbit model

The aim of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of ketamine in attenuating osteoarthritis (OA) and modulating the expression of inflammatory mediators. A rabbit OA model was established by knee immobilization using plaster bandages. After six weeks, rabbits were randomly allocated into four groups (n=6/group): Normal saline, Ket60, Ket100, and Ket200 and twice a week for four weeks the rabbits received an intra-articular injection of saline, or 60, 100 or 200 µmol/l ketamine, respectively. One week after the final injection, samples of synovial membrane, synovial fluid and articular cartilage were isolated. The pathological changes were assessed by general observation, hematoxylin and eosin staining and Alcian blue/periodic-acid Schiff staining. Cartilage pathology was assessed using Mankin's scoring system. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-10 levels in the synovial fluid were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The nuclear factor (NF)-κB p65 subunit expression level in cartilage samples was determined by immunohistochemistry. OA was characterized by morphological changes in the articular surface, cartilage lesions, infiltration of inflammatory cells and a significantly increased Mankin's score. Elevated TNF-α and reduced IL-10 levels in the synovial fluid, along with increased p65 expression levels in the cartilage were observed in OA rabbits. Intra-articular injection of ketamine ameliorated the pathological characteristics of OA, reduced the Mankin's score, decreased TNF-α and NF-κB p65 expression levels, and increased the level of IL-10 expression in a dose-dependent manner. Thus is was demonstrated that Ketamine suppresses the inflammatory response in OA by modulating inflammatory mediator expression levels in a rabbit model of OA.
Ketamine safety profile in the developing world: survey of practitioners.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the safety profile of ketamine when used to facilitate surgical procedures in the less controlled setting of developing world, rural hospitals. METHODS A survey addressing clinical experience with ketamine in the developing world was administered to a convenience sample of missionary physicians. Descriptive statistics are reported. RESULTS Of the 172 surveyed physicians, 122 (71%) responded; 55 reported experience with ketamine. These physicians estimated a total of 12,844 administrations. The format of one procedural physician and a second trained anesthesiologist/anesthetist was unavailable in the practice of 59% of the responding physicians, and 34% routinely performed procedures while simultaneously supervising ketamine administration and monitoring its clinical effect. Pulse oximetry was used "often" or "always" by only 10% of the physicians. Cardiac monitoring and intermittent vital signs were used in only 19% and 45%, respectively. One unexplained pediatric death occurred during an unmonitored, unobserved ward recovery. An adult suffered cardiac arrest after a failed intubation attempt. Seventeen other complications possibly related to ketamine were apnea (n = 10), laryngospasm (n = 6), and aspiration (n = 1), all of which were transient and without sequelae. Physicians believed that recovery hallucinations and agitation were frequent in adults and unusual in children. CONCLUSIONS Death and other serious complications were rare in this survey reporting > 12,000 estimated ketamine administrations in the developing world. Although the limitations of survey data are recognized, the margin of safety with ketamine appears to be high, even when administered by non-anesthesiologists in settings lacking basic mechanical monitoring. These findings have important implications for the use of ketamine outside the controlled operating room environment in developed countries.
Non Linearity and Heteroskedasticity Effect on Stock Returns Volatility

This article investigates the asymmetric nature of US stock market return and effect of heteroskedasticity on stock return volatility. Further, this study also analyzes the relationship between stock returns and conditional volatility, and standard residuals. The monthly opening and closing prices of S & P 500 are used for the period from January 1950 to December 2007. The study applies Ljung-Box statistics to examine the autocorrelation in stock returns and GARCH (1, 1) and TAR-GARCH (1, 1) to test the heteroscedasticy, and asymmetric nature of stock returns respectively. The results of the study suggest the presence of non linearity, heteroskedasticity effect and asymmetric nature of stock returns. It also finds no correlation between stock returns and conditional volatility, however, the relationship between stock returns and standardized residuals is found positively significant. These findings bring out the essential elements of the modern investment theory that investors adjust their investment decisions with respect to expected volatility, however, they tend to earn extra risk premium for unexpected volatility. This study provides a robustness test of the conditional volatility and asymmetric impact of good and bad news.
Constituency Activity and Representational Roles among Australian Legislators

The link between elected representatives' views of their role and the type and extent of their constituency activity is central to political representation, yet it has remained largely unexplored. This article partially fills this gap by examining the link between Australian legislators' views of their representative role and their constituency work, and by evaluating the conjoint influence of these two factors on the vote. The data come from a national survey of Australian federal legislators conducted in 1993. The results show that legislators have clearly distinguishable representative foci resembling the triad of imperative mandate/free mandate/party, and that these views are significant in determining how legislators relate to their constituency and the vote they attract. Contrary to findings in other polities, dealing with constituents' grievances reduces a legislator's vote, mainly because such activity displaces other, more electorally advantageous, party-focused activities.
Knowledge Engineering With Big Data (BigKE): A 54-Month, 45-Million RMB, 15-Institution National Grand Project

Starting in July 2016, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, along with several other national agencies, sponsors a 54-month 45-million RMB (Chinese Yuan) project on knowledge engineering with Big Data (www.bigke.org) for 15 top research and development institutions to study the fundamental theory and the applications of BigKE, a big-data knowledge engineering framework that handles fragmented knowledge modeling and online learning from multiple information sources, nonlinear fusion on fragmented knowledge, and automated demand-driven knowledge navigation. The project seeks to provide petabyte-scale data and knowledge services in identified application domains. In this paper, we discuss our BigKE framework, and present a novel application scenario for BigKE services.
Exchange Rate, Competitiveness and Balance of Payment Performance

This paper examines the effectiveness of exchange rate policy of Sri Lanka in achieving external competitiveness since liberalization of the economy in 1977. The conventional two-country trade model that explains the traditional approach to Balance of Payment (BOP) was applied using quarterly data covering the period of 1978:1 to 2000:4. Results reveal that the Real Effective Exchange Rate(REER) does not have significant impact on improving the Trade Balance (TB) particularly in the short run implying a blurred J-Curve phenomenon. Even though the cointegration tests reveal that there is a long run relationship between TB and the REER it shows very marginal impact in improving TB in long run. (JEL F40, O24) DOI: 10.4038/ss.v35i1. 1234 Staff Studies Volume 35 Numbers 1& 2 2005 p.63-91
Scholarships, Citations and Salaries: Economic Rewards in Economics

While substantial attention has been paid to the determinants of academics' earnings [5; 7; 8; 14; 15], this literature has by implication suggested that the mere fact of having spent more time in the profession, and the publication of more scholarly articles and books, are the major determinants of salary differences. Our purpose here is to introduce a new determinant-the "quality" of one's scholarly research, measured by the frequency of references to that work-as an additional, objective measure of productivity. We expect that this proxy for the extent of a scholar's influence on the work of other researchers is rewarded by the market. In addition to giving a more complete picture of the determination of salaries in academic labor markets, our approach should be useful in establishing a better framework for the evaluation of issues of discrimination in such markets than has been presented before [2; 9].
European ports policy: meeting contemporary governance challenges

This article assesses how the European Union (EU) views the role of port authorities. It addresses the impact of EU law and EU policy on port governance models and, in particular, analyses whether the European Commission's 2007 ports policy communication provides adequate instruments to meet contemporary governance challenges. For that purpose, an overview is first given of some of the main governance challenges of European ports as well as a brief insight in governance reform processes in EU Member States. The article also contains a bird's-eye view on the evolution of EU ports policy, paying particular attention to the basic objectives involved, the debate on the port services’ Directive and the process that led to the Commission's new communication. The article concludes with further research questions on the influence of the EU on port governance reform in Member States.
Coalescent and biophysical models of stepping‐stone gene flow in neritid snails

Marine species in the Indo‐Pacific have ranges that can span thousands of kilometres, yet studies increasingly suggest that mean larval dispersal distances are less than historically assumed. Gene flow across these ranges must therefore rely to some extent on larval dispersal among intermediate ‘stepping‐stone’ populations in combination with long‐distance dispersal far beyond the mean of the dispersal kernel. We evaluate the strength of stepping‐stone dynamics by employing a spatially explicit biophysical model of larval dispersal in the tropical Pacific to construct hypotheses for dispersal pathways. We evaluate these hypotheses with coalescent models of gene flow among high‐island archipelagos in four neritid gastropod species. Two of the species live in the marine intertidal, while the other two are amphidromous, living in fresh water but retaining pelagic dispersal. Dispersal pathways predicted by the biophysical model were strongly favoured in 16 of 18 tests against alternate hypotheses. In regions where connectivity among high‐island archipelagos was predicted as direct, there was no difference in gene flow between marine and amphidromous species. In regions where connectivity was predicted through stepping‐stone atolls only accessible to marine species, gene flow estimates between high‐island archipelagos were significantly higher in marine species. Moreover, one of the marine species showed a significant pattern of isolation by distance consistent with stepping‐stone dynamics. While our results support stepping‐stone dynamics in Indo‐Pacific species, we also see evidence for nonequilibrium processes such as range expansions or rare long‐distance dispersal events. This study couples population genetic and biophysical models to help to shed light on larval dispersal pathways.
Patterns and trends of residential location of middle-class families in Amsterdam

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Understanding Cultural Frames in the Multicultural Sales Organization: Prospects and Problems for the Sales Manager

Changes in social demographics, legislation, and wealth distribution have prompted modern sales organizations to recognize the importance of cultural diversity within customer markets and sales forces. Some sales forces have employed multicultural salespersons to aide their pursuit of multicultural target markets. Traditionally, organizations have conceptualized cultural identity as membership in one particular category, or frame, determined by race or nationality. However, modern transnational sales organizations actually include sales managers and sales subordinates who may identify with more than one cultural frame, or meaning system. These cultural frames present important prospects and problems for today's sales managers who interface with sales subordinates having compatible or incompatible cultural frames. Within the context of the sales manager and sales subordinate relationship, we present a 2 × 2 framework explaining the cross-cultural interfaces between individuals having one cultural frame (monocultural) versus two or more culture frames (multicultural).
Regenerative wound healing in acute degree III mandibular defects in dogs.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the healing events in degree III furcation defects in dogs following the application of the combination of an enamel matrix derivative with a biphasic calcium phosphate (Emdogain Plus). METHOD AND MATERIALS Seventeen degree III furcation defects, 5 mm high and 4 mm wide, were created in 9 dogs. In both groups, the defects were conditioned with EDTA. One defect was treated with Emdogain Plus (n = 9), while the contralateral defect serving as control remained empty (n = 8). The defects in both groups were fully covered by coronally repositioned flaps. After 5 months of healing, histologic and histometric analysis was preformed. RESULTS A significant amount of new attachment and bone formation was observed in both control and test specimens. However, in a number of control specimens, ankylosis was also observed. In the control and test groups, respectively, the mean new cementum length was 10.8 ± 2.1 mm and 8.6 ± 3.2 mm; the mean periodontal ligament length was 7.6 ± 3.8 mm and 8.1 ± 4.0 mm. The mean new bone height was 4.4 ± 1.3 mm and 4.3 ± 1.6 mm in the control and test groups, respectively. No statistical differences were found between the two groups in terms of amount of cementum, periodontal ligament, and alveolar bone regeneration. CONCLUSION The present study failed to show higher amounts of newly formed cementum and bone following treatment of acute degree III mandibular furcation defects following use of Emdogain Plus compared with a coronally advanced flap. Emdogain Plus seems to have a protective role against ankylosis in this type of defect.
A comparative analysis of restorative materials used in abfraction lesions in tooth with and without occlusal restoration: Three-dimensional finite element analysis

Objectives: The present comparative analysis aimed at evaluating the mechanical behavior of various restorative materials in abfraction lesion in the presence and absence of occlusal restoration. Materials and Methods: A three-dimensional finite-element analysis was performed. Six experimental models of mandibular first premolar were generated and divided into two groups (groups A and B) of three each. All the groups had cervical abfraction lesion restored with materials and in addition group A had class I occlusal restoration. A load of 90 N, 200 N, and 400 N were applied at 45° loading angle on the buccal inclines of buccal cusp and Von Mises stresses was chosen for analysis. Results: In all the models, the values of stress recorded at the cervical margin of the restorations were at their maxima. Irrespective of the occlusal restoration, all the materials performed well at 90 N and 200 N. At 400 N, only low-shrink composite showed stresses lesser than its tensile strength indicating its success even at higher load. Conclusion: Irrespective of occlusal restoration, restorative materials with low modulus of elasticity are successful in abfraction lesions at moderate tensile stresses; whereas materials with higher modulus of elasticity and mechanical properties can support higher loads and resist wear. Significance: The model allows comparison of different restorative materials for restoration of abfraction lesions in the presence and absence of occlusal restoration. The model can be used to validate more sophisticated computational models as well as to conduct various optimization studies.
Plasmodium falciparum Dynein Light Chain 1 Interacts with Actin/Myosin during Blood Stage Development*

Dynein light chain 1 (LC1), a member of the leucine-rich repeat protein family, has been shown to be engaged in controlling flagellar motility in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Trypanosoma brucei via its interaction with the dynein γ heavy chain. In Plasmodium falciparum, we have identified the LC1 ortholog, designated Pfdlc1. Negative attempts to disrupt the dlc1 gene by reverse genetic approaches in both P. falciparum and P. berghei suggest either its essentiality for parasite survival or the inaccessibility of its locus. Expression studies revealed high levels of DLC1 protein in late trophozoites and schizonts, pointing to an unexpected role of this protein in blood-stage parasites as they do not have flagella. Interactions studies and co-immunoprecipitation experiments revealed that PfDLC1 was able to bind to P. falciparum myosin A and actin 1. The PfDLC1 interacting domains present in P. falciparum myosin A and actin 1 were mapped to sequences containing SDIE and/or EEMKT motifs present in the upper 50-kDa segment of the myosin A head domain and in the subdomain IV of actin 1, respectively. Detection of PfDLC1 by fluorescence tagging and immunofluorescence staining using specific antibodies showed a cytoplasmic location similar to actin and immunofluorescence studies showed a co-localization of PfDLC1 and myosin A. Taken together, these findings suggest that PfDLC1 might play an important role in P. falciparum erythrocytic stages by its interaction with myosin A and actin 1, known to be essential for parasite development.
A New Keynesian Perspective of Monetary Policy Implementation in Austr alia

We estimate a structural VAR (SVAR) for the Australian economy based on an open economy New Keynesian macro model. The identification of the rational expectations SVAR is achieved by placing exclusion restrictions on the VAR residuals and the covariance matrix. The full information maximum likelihood parameter estimates of the model suggest that the New Keynesian specification fits the Australian data well, and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has a short-run focus on stabilising the output fluctuations while maintaining a medium-run inflation target since 1984. We simulate the dynamic responses of the output gap, inflation, exchange rate, and interest rate to an exogenous monetary policy shock. The results are clear of the price and exchange rate puzzles, which further supports the relevance of the New Keynesian model to the Australian economy. The impulse response functions for an exchange rate shock and for an aggregate demand shock suggest that the RBA is primarily concerned about the effects of the exchange rate fluctuations on inflation and output in the short run.
The impact of cash transfers on household welfare in Namibia

Namibia has a long history of providing a universal and non-contributory old age pension, child grants using means testing and quasi-conditionalities, and other cash transfers. Multivariate analysis presented in this paper confirms that these transfers play an important role in alleviating poverty, especially for the very poor. The poverty-reducing effects of the child grants are likely to increase further as access is being rapidly expanded. However, the impact in terms of reducing Namibia's extremely high inequality is limited. The targeting of the cash transfers towards the poorest groups takes place through two main channels. For the child grant, targeting occurs as a result of the orphan status eligibility criteria, as orphans are over-represented in lower-income households. For the universal social pension, it appears that some of the relatively less poor do not receive it even if they are eligible. Means testing of child grants appears ineffective, even without considering administrative costs.
THE TIME PATH OF SCARCITY RENT IN THE THEORY OF EXHAUSTIBLE RESOURCES

There is now a consensus in the literature on resource economics that a depletable resource should command a price in excess of its marginal extraction cost, simply to reflect the opportunity cost of using a unit of it today rather that conserving it for the future. But how this excess is to change along an optimal (or, competitive equilibrium)' path of resource use is still an unresolved question. This might at first seem puzzling, since according to the fundamental theorem of economics of exhaustible resources, or Hotelling (I 93 I) rule, on an optimal path, price minus marginal extraction cost (also termed interchangeably as 'scarcity rent', 'user cost', or 'royalty') should steadily grow over time at the social rate of discount. However, the literature contains sharply contrasting views on the subject. For example, Kay and Mirrlees (1975) have argued that since along an optimal path the scarcity rent grows exponentially as a finite stock of a resourceXnears exhaustion, then situations in which the resource stock is still very large and yet the price greatly exceeds the marginal extraction cost should indicate that the price is significantly above its optimal level and that the resource is overconserved. In stark contrast to this view, Heal (I976) has argued that as the resource stock nears exhaustion the difference between price and marginal cost (or, what he termed, 'social cost of extraction') falls monotonically to zero. Hanson (i980) analyses the same model as Heal's, but unlike Heal who assumes the unit extraction cost to be convex, he postulates it to be concave, and yet, like Heal, concludes that the scarcity rent will be monotonically declining over time. Solow and Wan (I976) analyse a still different situation where resource deposits differ in quality and the unit extraction cost increases as higher-grade deposits are exhausted and extraction proceeds to lower grades. They show that along an optimal path the shadow price of a resource must rise at the real rate of interest despite differential extraction costs, but that the difference between price and the marginal extraction cost, or what they call ' degradation charge' declines monotonically over time to zero. These sharply differing conclusions suggest that, far from being resolved, the question of how scarcity rent changes over time is much in want of a close scrutiny. The need for such a scrutiny becomes even stronger once it is noted