Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Economic development and the role of women in rural China

Economic reform has brought many changes to China’s rural economy in the past two decades, as reflected in a combination of rapid economic growth, rural industrialization, structural change, and sharp reductions in fertility. This paper explores the impact of economic growth and market development on the changing economic role of women in rural China. In China, recent studies examining female relative wages in industry and urban areas (Meng 1998; Liu et al. 2000 and Meng et al. 1995), and female labor force participation in the rural non-farm sector (Entwisle et al. 1995; Mathews and Nee 2000) find that while market development reduces the male -female wage differential, its effect on female labor participation is less clear. As a result, the link between market development and the contribution of women to household income is unclear. The major challenge in the empirical work is the measurement of individual contributions to farm production, given that only household farm income is observed. This problem I resolve by using individual labor supply in agricultural production to estimate the relative contributions of women and men. A panel household-level data set collected by CHNS in 1991, 1993, and 1997 that contains more than 1400 households is used to conduct the empirical analysis. Both fixed effect and random effect models that eliminate the effect of unobserved household characteristics are estimated. The most remarkable observation is that both women and men are moving out of agriculture, confirming that women are not left on the farm in the process of economic development. However, the effect of economic development, as proxied by village percapita income, is more significant for men. Consequently, the gap between male and female contributions to household income is widening in high economic growth areas. ECONOMIC DEVLEOPMENT AND THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN RURAL CHINA 2
Effects of sphingosine, isoquinoline and tannic acid on the human tape-stripping model and the psoriatic lesion.

Published data (mainly from rodent skin) suggest a correlation between compounds which inhibit protein kinase C (PKC), have anti-inflammatory or antitumor characteristics and possess antipsoriatic potential. We have investigated the effects of topical application of sphingosine (a naturally occurring PKC inhibitor), isoquinoline (a component of coal tar which showed antipsoriatic capacities in the mouse tail model) and tannic acid (a plant phenol with antitumor activity) on human skin. In each case we have assessed (a) the level of induction of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) following Sellotape stripping as an indicator for potential PKC inhibition in vivo, and (b) its effects on the lesions of chronic plaque psoriasis. The control group consisted of 18 healthy volunteers, used for the ODC induction experiments (0.0/0.1/0.2 M sphingosine in ethanol, 100% coal tar and 0/50 mM tannic acid in acetone) and 17 psoriatic patients used for double-blind scoring of two randomly selected lesions (0.0/0.1 M sphingosine in ethanol, 0.0/0.2% isoquinoline in white vaseline/lanette wax cream 50%/50% and 0/10% tannic acid in lanette wax cream) and also for some of the ODC induction experiments (0.0/0.2% isoquinoline and 0/10% tannic acid). Biopsies were taken 8 h after stripping and ODC activity was assessed by measurement of 14CO2 release. Lesions were scored with a modified psoriasis area and severity index on days 0, 7 (isoquinoline and tannic acid), 13 (sphingosine) and 21 (isoquinoline and tannic acid). Application of 0.1 or 0.2 M sphingosine resulted in a decrease of ODC activity of 52% and 66%, respectively (p < 0.01), but histologic sections showed intraepidermal necrosis. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Lobbying, Corporate Performance, and the Moderating Effects of Governance and Industry Concentration

Lobbying through political donations is prolific. We show that lobbying increases a firm’s operating performance by 8%, on average. Firms with worse governance (as proxied by antitakeover provisions, a classified board, and CEO-chair duality) are more likely to engage in lobbying, but gain significantly less from lobbying expenditure. Lobbying is less beneficial for firms in concentrated industries, consistent with the idea that industry concentration reduces the external discipline on managers. We take steps to mitigate endogeneity and sample-selection concerns. We use the 2006 reforms to the Lobbying Disclosure Act as a natural experiment to examine the impact of restrictions in lobbying through more stringent disclosure requirements and find no association between lobbying and performance following the 2006 reforms.
GABAergic ventrolateral pre-optic nucleus neurons are involved in the mediation of the anesthetic hypnosis induced by propofol

Intravenous anesthetics have been used clinically to induce unconsciousness for seventeen decades, however the mechanism of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness remains to be fully elucidated. It has previously been demonstrated that anesthetics exert sedative effects by acting on endogenous sleep-arousal circuits. However, few studies focus on the ventrolateral pre-optic (VLPO) to locus coeruleus (LC) sleep-arousal pathway. The present study aimed to investigate if VLPO is involved in unconsciousness induced by propofol. The present study additionally investigated if the inhibitory effect of propofol on LC neurons was mediated by activating VLPO neurons. Microinjection, target lesion and extracellular single-unit recordings were used to study the role of the VLPO-LC pathway in propofol anesthesia. The results demonstrated that GABAA agonist (THIP) or GABAA antagonist (gabazine) microinjections into VLPO altered the time of loss of righting reflex and the time of recovery of righting reflex. Furthermore, propofol suppressed the spontaneous firing activity of LC noradrenergic neurons. There was no significant difference observed in firing activity between VLPO sham lesion and VLPO lesion rats. The findings indicate that VLPO neurons are important in propofol-induced unconsciousness, however are unlikely to contribute to the inhibitory effect of propofol on LC spontaneous firing activity.
Possible Involvement of Phototropins in Leaf Movement of Kidney Bean in Response to Blue Light1

The leaf of kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) moves in response to blue light. The movement is induced by a decrease in the turgor pressure of pulvinar motor cells on the irradiated side. In this study, we investigated the initial event of the movement with respect to function of phototropin and the plasma membrane H+-ATPase in the motor cells. The results indicated that, in dark conditions, phototropin existed in a dephosphorylated state and the H+-ATPase existed in a phosphorylated state. A pulse of blue light (30 s) induced the phosphorylation of phototropin and the dephosphorylation of the H+-ATPase as determined by the binding behavior of 14-3-3 protein. Phototropin phosphorylation occurred rapidly, followed by the transient gradual dephosphorylation of the H+-ATPase. When the specific flavoprotein inhibitor diphenyleneiodonium and the protein kinase inhibitors K-252a and staurosporine were administered to pulvinar cells, both phototropin phosphorylation and H+-ATPase dephosphorylation were inhibited. The phosphorylation and dephosphorylation exhibited similar fluence rate dependencies to blue light. These results indicated that phototropin may function upstream of the plasma membrane H+-ATPase and decrease the activity of H+-ATPase by dephosphorylation. We provide evidence for the existence of three kinds of phototropins in pulvinar motor cells.
The Memory Effects of General Anesthesia Persist for Weeks in Young and Aged Rats

Studies demonstrate lasting cognitive impairment in elderly persons after anesthesia and surgery. We tested the hypothesis that general anesthesia contributes to this cognitive impairment. Six- and 18-mo-old Fischer 344 rats were trained in a 12-arm radial arm maze and were then randomized to anesthesia for 2 h with 1.2% isoflurane/70% nitrous oxide/30% oxygen or a control treatment consisting of 30% oxygen. Rats recovered for 24 h and then were tested daily on the radial arm maze for 8 wk. Performance of young control rats was stable throughout the experiment. In contrast, aged control rats improved their performance as measured by time to complete the maze but not by error rate. After anesthesia, time to complete the maze did not change in young rats, but error rate decreased (P < 0.05 at 1 and 3 wk), indicating improved performance. In contrast, previously anesthetized aged rats failed to improve with repeated testing and took longer to complete the maze than aged control rats (P < 0.05 at 1 and 3 wk). These data demonstrate that general anesthesia with isoflurane and nitrous oxide improves the memory performance on an established spatial memory task in young rats, but in aged rats it attenuates the improvement in performance that otherwise occurs with repeated testing. Therefore, isoflurane and nitrous oxide anesthesia produces a sustained learning impairment in aged rats.
Abnormalities of auditory event‐related potentials in students with schizotypal personality disorder

Abstract Biological, phenomenological and cognitive similarities are known to exist between schizophrenia and schizotypal personality disorder (SPD). This study examined whether, and to what extent, abnormalities in event‐related potentials (ERPs) already extensively reported in schizophrenia can also be observed in persons psychometrically identified with SPD. Event‐related potentials were examined in nine SPD subjects and nine controls recruited from among 1693 college students, using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐III‐R (SCID I and II). Event‐related potentials were recorded during an auditory oddball task. Smaller P300 amplitude and prolonged P300 latency were found in SPD subjects as compared with controls. Our findings indicate that such individuals do have deficits in information processing similar to that found in schizophrenia. We can conclude that P300 abnormalities may not be specific for SPD but that abnormalities shown in SPD are possibly a vulnerability marker for developing schizophrenia.
Price Transmission on the Milk Portuguese Market

This paper aims to analyze the milk prices transmission along the food chain in Portugal, temporally and spatially. The results show that the volatility on retail prices is small but happens after 2008. The farm gate price does not change when the price of package milk changes. In mainland, price transmission does not happen but for Azores the transmission is effective. In the intensive systems, the risk to collapse is bigger than in the extensive systems, where the volatility of prices reflects the process of markets adjustment.
GASTROINTESTINAL HELMINTHS OF PONIES IN LOUISIANA: A COMPARISON OF SPECIES CURRENTLY PREVALENT WITH THOSE PRESENT 20 YEARS AGO

A survey in Louisiana of gastrointestinal helminths recovered at necropsy from 117 ponies with minimal exposure to anthelmintics between 1989 and 2000 is compared with a survey conducted 20 yr earlier in the same region. An objective of this study was to determine whether species diversity has been affected by the advent and use of the macrocyclic lactone (ML) parasiticides and by the increased anthelmintic pressure on the helminth species infecting the general equine population. Twenty-six cyathostome species and 8 strongyle species were recovered. Two cyathostome species that were not found before, Cylicostephanus asymetricus and C. bidentatus, and 1 species of large strongyle, Oesophagodontus robustus, were added to the list of species found in Louisiana. All cyathostome and large strongyle species found previously were still present. But prevalences and intensities were significantly reduced for almost all large and small strongyle species. Prevalences and intensities of Oxyuris equi adults and larvae were reduced, whereas the prevalence of Parascaris equorum remained constant. The tapeworm Paranoplocephala mamillana was added to the list of parasite species found in Louisiana. Anoplocephala perfoliata remained the most common cestode. This species was found at the same level of intensity but increased slightly in prevalence. Anoplocephala magna was found less frequently than previously. The overall diversity of species remained relatively unchanged. The reasons for the differences in intensity and prevalence of strongyles between these 2 periods are unknown but might be related to the development and use of the broad-spectrum ML anthelmintics in the intervening period, a difference in the population of equids surveyed, different techniques used to identify the parasites, or differences in numbers of parasites identified (or to all).
Characteristics and influential factors of online brand communities

In today's competitive marketplace with increasing media clutter, the task of brand building has become more important and challenging than ever. Employing a Brand Community appears to be an effective approach to build and maintain such consumer-brand relationships. Also the advent of the Internet has made it possible to establish spontaneous, non-geographically bound brand communities in cyberspace. The online brand community has become a powerful tool giving insights into consumer needs, interests, worries and behaviors and is a great way to build trust and loyalty among your current and future customers. This paper, tries to provide better understanding of the importance and characteristics of online brand communities through the lens of academic research. Then, we explore and introduce the most influential factors those affect or are affected by online brand communities.
The influence of formulation and medicine delivery system on medication administration errors in care homes for older people

Introduction Older people in care homes are at increased risk of medication errors and adverse drug events. The effect of formulation on administration errors is not known, that is whether the medicine is a tablet or capsule, liquid or device such as an inhaler. Also, the impact on administration errors of monitored dosage systems (MDS), commonly used in UK care homes to dispense tablets and capsules, is not known. This study investigated the influence of formulation and MDS on administration errors. Methods Administration errors were identified by pharmacists (using validated definitions) observing two drug rounds of residents randomly selected from a purposive sample of UK nursing and residential homes. Errors were classified and analysed by formulation and medicine delivery system. Results The odds of administration errors by formulation, when compared with tablets and capsules in MDS, were: liquids 4.31 (95% CI 2.02 to 9.21; p=0.0002); topicals/transdermals/injections 19.61 (95% CI 6.90 to 55.73; p<0.0001); inhalers 33.58 (95% CI 12.51 to 90.19; p<0.0001). The odds of administration errors for tablets and capsules not in MDS were double those that were dispensed in MDS (adjusted OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.02 to 4.51; p=0.04). Conclusions Inhalers and liquid medicines were associated with significantly increased odds of administration errors. Training of staff in safe administration of these formulations needs implementing. Although there was some evidence that MDS reduced the odds of an administration error, the use of MDS impacts on other aspects of medicines management. Because of this, and as the primary topic of our study was not MDS, a prospective trial specifically designed to evaluate the overall impact of MDS on medicine management in care homes is needed.
The Impact of Critical Injury as Described by a Spouse

This descriptive study explored the initial experience of critical injury from a spouse's perspective. A case study was used to examine the Lazarus stress and coping paradigm. The subject was 43-year-old Caucasian woman, with three young children. Semistructured interviews were conducted i month following critical injury. Analysis of data confirmed the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional coping processes as suggested by Lazarus. From the spouse's description, three distinct phases of the critical care experience also emerged. notification, arrival at the hospital. and waiting periods. Cognitive, behavioral. and emotional coping processes were clustered according to the spouse's distinct phases of this experience. A 3 x 3 matrix provides a description of the coping processes during the initial critical care period and offers direction for nursing interventions.
The effects of ethanol on insulin-like growth factor-I immunoreactive neurons in the central nervous system.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of chronically ethanol treatment on insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) synthesis in various adult brain regions using immunocytochemistry. METHODS We performed this study at the Faculty of Medicine, Kocaeli University, Kocaeli, Turkey from March 2006 to October 2007. The vascular perfusion was utilized to fix the adult rat brains (10 for each group). After applying the routine histological techniques, the tissues were embedded in the paraffin. The immunohistochemical protocol was applied to the 10 um thick sections and the expression of IGF-I positive cells were observed in the neuro-anatomic areas. RESULTS The distribution of IGF-I immunoreactive cells differed between the layers of the normal cerebral cortex and in the thalamic areas. In the alcoholic brain, the amount of IGF-I immunoreactive cells were decreased compared to the similar neuro-anatomical areas examined in the normal brains. CONCLUSION The presence of IGF-I immunoreactivity in the neurons of the various neuro-anatomic areas demonstrates clearly that, these particular neurons are active in IGF-I synthesis. The decrease in the immunoreactivity of IGF-I in the chronically ethanol treated adult rat brain areas, show clearly that, ethanol effects negatively on the IGF-I synthesis.
Pilot Study of Past Decade Game-Based Learning Journal Papers Survey from the Technology Perspective

The potential of involving video game in learning is being increasingly acknowledged. In order to study the last decade game-based learning development spectrum, a meta-research based on four hundred and thirteen journal papers collected from more than seventeen technology enhanced learning journals was applied. Different perspectives, such as technology, design, process, outcome, social culture, and individual differences, were applied to analyze the game-based learning papers. To simplify, this work studied the four hundred and thirteen journal papers from the technology perspective. The preliminary result indicates that game-based learning is a prosperous research area after 2005 in America, Europe and Asia. The study also finds that game-based learning research is highly affected by the technology evolution.
ATTITUDES AND INTENTIONS TOWARD PURCHASING GM FOODS AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS IN ROMANIA

This paper focuses on examining some of the main issues related to the consumption of genetically modified food products in Romania, respectively the attitudes and intentions of purchasing food products that are genetically modified. The survey was conducted in the year of 2006, the focus group being composed of college students. The majority of respondents has expressed a negative attitude and is not willing to purchase food that is genetically modified.
Yeast SNF1 is functionally related to mammalian AMP-activated protein kinase and regulates acetyl-CoA carboxylase in vivo.

The product of the SNF1 gene is a protein kinase whose activity is essential for transcriptional activation of glucose repressed genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We have cloned a mammalian AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) that is 46% identical to the deduced amino acid sequence of SNF1 (Carling, D., Aguan, K., Woods, A., Verhoeven, A.J.M., Beri, R., Brennan, C.H., Sidebottom, C., Davison, M.D., and Scott, J. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 11442-11448). Mammalian AMPK plays a major role in the control of lipid metabolism and phosphorylating, thereby inactivating both acetyl-CoA carboxylase and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase, key regulatory enzymes in the synthesis of fatty acids and cholesterol, respectively. We present evidence indicating that, in common with its mammalian homologue, SNF1 forms part of a protein kinase cascade. SNF1 is inactivated in vitro by treatment with protein phosphatase 2A and can be reactivated using a partially purified preparation of mammalian AMPK kinase. SNF1 undergoes a time-dependent increase in activity during growth in glucose-derepressing conditions, providing the first evidence that SNF1 activity is regulated by the level of available glucose. In wild-type yeast, but not in a snf1 deletion mutant, acetyl-CoA carboxylase shows a reciprocal change in activity compared with SNF1 under glucose derepressing conditions, indicating that SNF1 regulates acetyl-CoA carboxylase in vivo. These results suggest that, in addition to their structural similarity, the role of SNF1 and AMPK in the regulation of fatty acid synthesis has been highly conserved throughout evolution.
Theshold Dynamics for Statistical Density Estimation and Graph Clustering

Author(s): Kostic, Tijana | Advisor(s): Bertozzi, Andrea L. | Abstract: In 1992 Merriman, Bence and Osher proposed a computationally inexpensive thresholddynamics algorithm for the approximation of the motion by mean curvature. Since itsintroduction, numerous generalizations of the algorithm have been made, and the algorithmhas been successfully used in a wide variety of computer vision applications, such as imagesegmentation, image inpainting, surface reconstruction etc. The main focus of this workare the extensions of the original algorithm as well as multiple new applications such asprobability density estimation and graph segmentation.Part I discusses a threshold dynamics segmentation algorithm for estimating a probabil-ity density based on discrete point data. Since point data may represent certain activities,such as crime, this method can be successfully used for detecting regions of high activity, aswell as locating the region where activities generally occur. To achieve the goal of accuratelylocating such regions, a binary segmentation version of the well-known Maximum Penal-ized Likelihood Estimation (MPLE) model is designed. The method is applied to differentcomputational examples, including one with actual residential burglary data from the SanFernando Valley.In Part II we present an adaptation of the classic Merriman-Bence-Osher (MBO) schemeutilizing a fully or semi nonlocal graph Laplacian for solving a wide range of learning problemsin data clustering and image processing. Combining ideas from L1 compressive sensing, imageprocessing and graph methods, the diffuse interface model based on the Ginzburg-Landaufunctional was recently introduced to the graph community for solving problems in dataclassification. Here, we propose an algorithm for graph-based methods and also make use offast numerical solvers for finding eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the graph Laplacian. Todemonstrate the performance of our model, various computational examples are presented,which proves that the method is successful on images with texture and repetitive structuredue to its nonlocal nature. A wide range of applications is discussed, including data labeling,image segmentation and image inpainting, which demonstrates the versatility of the proposedalgorithm. The success of this algorithm also raises an important theoretical question: isit possible to define an analog of the motion by mean curvature of surfaces on graphs, andwhat properties would such notion possess.