Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Na+ reduction and monensin on ion content and contractile response in normoxic and ischaemic reperfused rat hearts

Summary— The possibility was explored whether the functional properties of Na+/Ca2+ exchange are altered after ischaemia, thereby contributing to the elevated intracellular (i) Ca2+ levels in ischaemic reperfused hearts. The intracellular Na+, K+ and Ca2+ contents in rat Langendorff heart preparations were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry under normoxic conditions, after ischaemia (30 min) and after ischaemia (30 min) plus reperfusion (30 min). In addition, the influence of modulating the Na+ gradient (Na+o/Na+i) across the sarcolemma was studied with respect to cardiac contractility and intracellular ion content. This was done by either decreasing extracellular (o) Na+ or by increasing Na+i with monensin, both in normoxic and reperfused hearts. Both Na+o reduction and monensin led to an increase in contractility and coronary flow, an effect which was nearly abolished in reperfused hearts. Under normoxic conditions the intracellular ion contents amounted to Na+ = 12.4 ± 0.4, K+ = 99.0 ± 3.1 and Ca2+ = 0.64 ± 0.02 mmol/kg cell (means ± SEM, n = 7). In normoxic hearts, lowering Na+o reduced and monensin increased Na+i, thereby both leading to a decrease in Na+ gradient; no effect on total Ca2+i content was observed. Na+i increased twofold after ischaemia as compared to the normoxic situation, an effect which was aggravated (4 fold increase) in reperfused hearts. The opposite effects were observed for K+i with a 25% decrease after ischaemia and a 40% decrease in reperfused hearts. Only after ischaemia plus reperfusion was Ca2+i increased (6 fold). In reperfused hearts, lowering Na+o again reduced and monensin increased Na+i, whereas a further rise in Ca2+i was now observed depending on the Na+ gradient across the sarcolemma: the larger the drop in Na+ gradient, the more pronounced the increase in Ca2+i in the reperfused heart. We conclude that the Ca2+i increase in reperfused hearts can be modulated by changing the Na+ gradient across the sarcolemma. This suggests that inhibited or reversed Na+/Ca2+ exchange is predominantly responsible for the rise in Ca2+i in ischaemic hearts that are subjected to reperfusion.
Shadow Economy and Its Relations with Tax System and State Budget in Poland

There are controversies regarding existing estimates of the size of shadow economy in Poland. Therefore this paper focuses on the measurement of shadow economy in Poland over the period 1995–2007. On the basis of monetary methods, an econometric model for currency demand is built. Using estimation results, the size of shadow economy is assessed. According to the estimates shadow economy declined in the period 1995–2007 starting from 40% of GDP in 1995 and reaching about 10% of GDP in 2007. The paper also analyses relations between shadow economy, state budget and tax system. A Vector Autoregressive model is estimated and Impulse Reaction Functions are drown, showing that an increase in indirect tax burden enlarges shadow economy. A contrary effect arises due to an increase in: a) direct tax burden; b) budget balance.
‘Internetization Management’

In the traditional economy, partnership forms are managed through classical styles. However, the traditional economy is successively being transferred into an IT-based economy where classical globalization is shifting towards e-Globalization. We argue, in this article, for a different type of management paradigm which has the potential to be used in the management of strategic alliance structuring. The new form is designated as ‘Internetization Management’. This new term was first suggested by Abouzeedan et al. (2003). In our analysis, we found that this new form of management can be a potential tool to construct and operate strategic alliances.
Molecular Detection of Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum in Human Clinical Samples

ABSTRACT We developed a seminested PCR for the diagnosis of histoplasmosis that amplifies a portion of the Histoplasma capsulatum H antigen gene. This assay is highly sensitive and specific, being able to detect genomic material corresponding to less than 10 yeast cells without cross-reaction against other bacterial or fungal pathogens.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Light Duty Vehicles Under a Variety of Driving Conditions

Data on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions - carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide (CO<sub>2</sub>, CH<sub>4</sub> and N<sub>2</sub>O respectively), fuel consumption (U100 km) and fuel economy (miles per US gallon) were collected for 187 light duty gasoline vehicles (cars and light trucks) and 11 light duty diesel cars. Vehicles meeting Tier 1 through Tier 2 emission standards were tested (model years 1997 through 2004). The vehicles were tested over four different driving cycles to simulate different driving conditions, though not all vehicles were tested over all driving cycles. On all of these tests criteria emissions and greenhouse gas emissions (CO<sub>2</sub> and CH<sub>4</sub>) were determined. N<sub>2</sub>O was determined on 50 of the more recent model year vehicles. The driving cycle used to determine compliance with criteria emissions standards is the Federal Test Procedure (FTP). FTP emission rates vary between 65 and 370 g/km for CO<sub>2</sub>, between 0.0007 and 0.11 g/km for CH<sub>4</sub> and between <0.0005 and 0.01 g/km for N<sub>2</sub>O. Under highway driving conditions, CH<sub>4</sub> and N<sub>2</sub>O emission rates were lower than observed for the FTP. Under congested urban driving conditions, CH<sub>4</sub> and N<sub>2</sub>O emissions were significantly greater than observed for the FTP. Under aggressive driving conditions, CH<sub>4</sub> emissions varied while N<sub>2</sub>O emissions were always lower than observed for the FTP. The emission factors used in inventory development for CH<sub>4</sub> and N<sub>2</sub>O were found to be much greater than the measured emission factors.
Transparency and Credibility of Monetary Policy in Transition Countries: The Case of the Czech Republic

This is a study of what asset price can tell us about the evolving credibility of the monetary policy of the Czech National Bank (CNB). From the beginning of the 1990s, several market economies adopted direct inflation targeting (DIT). The focus of our analysis is to examine the effect of changes in the two-week repo rate (the official interest rate) on short and longâ€“maturity market interest rates. Argument relies on information asymmetry and the existence of a stationary stochastic equilibrium with full knowledge of authorities reaction function. Only then will reaction be insignificant. Our research found at short maturities, the coefficients for changes in the official repo rate are lower in the DIT period than in pre-crisis period. The results are significant at the 5%-level. This implies that the hypothesis of no increase in the transparency of monetary policy with the introduction of DIT can be rejected. We found that bond yields and interest rate swap rates of maturities of 5 years and more did not react significantly (at the 5%-level) to official interest rate decisions in the DIT period. This is consistent with the hypothesis that monetary policy was credible both before and after introduction of DIT.
Influence of metabolic and physical factors on production of diacetoxyscirpenol by Fusarium sambucinum Fuckel

Fusarium sambucinum Fuckel 8099-1 was grown on Czapek-Dox peptone-supplemented medium at 15 degrees C for 14 days, and the cultures were investigated for diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS) production by liquid-liquid extraction and gas chromatography. The addition of 150 mg of sorbic acid, a tricarboxylic acid cycle inhibitor, per liter stimulated both fungal growth and DAS production. Among the beta-hydroxy-beta-methylglutaryl coenzyme A precursors tested, isovaleric acid completely inhibited fungal growth and DAS production, ethyl isovalerate did not support a significant increase in DAS production, and L-leucine partially inhibited DAS production, showing that L-leucine and isovaleric acid catabolisms do not induce trichothecene biosynthesis. Solid particles (cork powder) were necessary for DAS production in stationary cultures but did not influence DAS production in shaken cultures. Shaking strongly stimulated DAS production and fungal growth.
Security Issue Timing: What Do Managers Know, and When Do They Know it?

We study put option sales undertaken by corporations during their repurchase programs. Put sales' main theoretical motivation is market timing, providing an excellent framework for studying whether security issues reflect managers' ability to identify mispricing. Our evidence is that these bets reflect timing ability, and are not simply a result of overconfidence. In the 100 days following put option issues, there is roughly a 5% abnormal stock price return, and the abnormal return is concentrated around the first earnings release date following put option sales. Longer term effects are generally not detected. Put sales also appear to reflect successful bets on the direction of stock price volatility.
Size and stock market integration: a study of Canadian firms

In this article the restrictions imposed on excess returns by a dynamic optimization model are tested on stock market data from the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE), from which ten size-portfolios have been formed. The model implies that all excess returns should move proportionately if assets are perfectly integrated. The restriction that all size portfolios are governed by one single latent variable is rejected over the sample period 1961–2002. It is established that this rejection is due to the presence of the smallest size portfolio, especially during the second half of the sample period. The uncertainties of the late 1980s and 1990s appear to require the presence of a second latent variable. No definite conclusions can be drawn regarding these sources of risk even if the return on the market portfolio and exchange rate fluctuations play an important role.
Efectos macroeconómicos de los incentivos del Régimen Económico Fiscal de Canarias en el período 1994-2013

La economia canaria se ha beneficiado de importantes efectos sobre sus principales equilibrios macroeconomicos y su convergencia real con la Union Europea gracias a las especificidades fiscales y economicas contempladas en el Regimen Economico Fiscal (REF). En este trabajo se ha estimado cuantitativamente el orden de magnitud verosimil de los efectos de dichas especificidades sobre variables como el VAB, la renta por habitante, el empleo, la tasa de paro y la tasa de inflacion de la economia canaria, tanto para el periodo 1994-2004 como para el periodo 1994-2013. Para ello, se utiliza una adaptacion a la economia canaria del modelo macroeconometrico HERMIN-Espana, lo que permite comparar su evolucion con y sin los incentivos del REF.
Evolution equations for the nonlocal GTN model

A nonlocal multiscale model in time domain is developed for fatigue life predictions. The method is based on the mathematical homogenization theory with almost periodic fields. The almost periodicity reflects the effects of irreversible deformations in time d omain in the form of accumulation of damage. Multiple temporal scales are introduced to de compose the original boundary value problem into micro-chronological (temporal unit cell) and macrochronological (homogenized) problems. A nonlocal Gurson type constitu tive law is revisited for cyclic loading, calibrated and validated against fatigue crack propag ation experiments on 316L austenitic stainless steel specimens.
A secure privacy preservation model for vertically partitioned distributed data

Nowadays, data mining techniques are massively used via organizations intended for converting huge amount of data into information. Due to the advancement in database technology data are present at distributed sites consequently for carrying data mining analyzing in cost effective way we need to integrate these distributed data at one site. The predicament of anxiety here is that privacy of individual is at risk and we can find out sensitive information upon integration so a secure data model is needed to accomplish this task. In this paper, a new data model is proposed which integrates vertically partitioned distributed data securely by applying encryption on desire attributes, that cause privacy leakage and data owner, can also recover their data subsequent to integration. Further we apply CART algorithm on integrated data set and compared the result with C.45 algorithm to compare various parameter and shows that proposed algorithm give better performance than C.45.
Good jobs versus bad jobs : theory and some evidence

This paper offers a model of the interaction between composition of jobs and labor market regulation. Ex post rent-sharing due to search frictions implies that "good" jobs which have higher creation costs must pay higher wages. This wage differential distorts the composition of jobs, and in the unregulated equilibrium there are too many bad jobs relative to the number of good jobs. Minimum wages and unemployment insurance encourage workers to wait for higher wages and therefore induce firms to shift the composition of employment towards good jobs. As a result, such regulations, even though they will often increase unemployment, will increase average labor productivity and may improve welfare. The paper then briefly investigates the empirical importance of this interaction using data from U.S. states. The results suggest that the composition of jobs improves considerably in response to higher minimum wages and more generous unemployment benefits.
Debt and Input Misallocation

We investigate a class of agency costs of debt that arise because debt financing affects the firm's incentives to use inputs efficiently. A methodology for estimating this class of costs is presented and applied to a major industry, air transport. Our results are consistent with agency models that predict a decrease in efficiency as the debt increases. A part of the loss of efficiency that we identify is attributable to the greater use by levered firms of inputs that can be monitored and are collateralizable. THE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST that can arise between different classes of claimants to the firm's cash flow have been extensively studied in the financial literature. These conflicts are relevant because the firm's investment and financing decisions affect the value of the firm and redistribute wealth across the different classes of securities. If the decision making power belongs only to the holders of a specific class of securities, then the firm's investment policy may maximize the value of that security, and not maximize the total value of the firm. This insight has been used in the financial literature to analyze the effect of capital structure on a wide range of key non-financial policy variables from an agency theory perspective. Among the policy effects studied are the effects of leverage on the amount of risk the firm undertakes,1 on its willingness to invest,2 and on the firm's output in imperfectly competitive markets.3 Contributions to this literature have identified financial structures, typically debt-equity ratios, that at the margin optimally trade-off agency costs, and the tax or strategic advantages of debt financing. Despite the intuitive appeal of agency costs as a determinant of the firm's financial structure, and their seeming applicability to particular cases, such as the recent savings and loans scandal (e.g., Business Week, October 31, 1988), there is surprisingly little evidence on the magnitude of agency costs.4 Indeed, as
Perceiving Musical Individuality: Performer Identification is Dependent on Performer Expertise and Expressiveness, but Not on Listener Expertise

Can listeners distinguish unfamiliar performers playing the same piece on the same instrument? Professional performers recorded two expressive and two inexpressive interpretations of a short organ piece. Nonmusicians and musicians listened to these recordings and grouped together excerpts they thought had been played by the same performer. Both musicians and nonmusicians performed significantly above chance. Expressive interpretations were sorted more accurately than inexpressive ones, indicating that musical individuality is communicated more efficiently through expressive performances. Furthermore, individual performers' consistency and distinctiveness with respect to expressive patterns were shown to be excellent predictors of categorisation accuracy. Categorisation accuracy was superior for prize-winning performers compared to non-winners, suggesting a link between performer competence and the communication of musical individuality. Finally, results indicate that temporal information is sufficient to enable performer recognition, a finding that has broader implications for research on the detection of identity cues.
Editorial Comment to Testicular torsion–detorsion and potential therapeutic treatments: A possible role for ischemic postconditioning

Heusch G. Ischemic postconditioning: experimental models and protocol algorithms. Basic Res. Cardiol. 2009; 104: 469–83. 87 Ozkisacik S, Yazici M, Gursoy H, Serter M, Culhaci N. The effects of shortinterval postconditioning in preventing testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats. J. Pediatr. Surg. 2011; 46: 546–50. 88 Ozkisacik S, Erdem AO, Durmaz O, Culhaci N, Gursoy H, Yazici M. The long-term protective effects of short-interval postconditioning in testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats. J. Pediatr. Surg. 2012; 47: 743–6. 89 Allen BS, Okamoto F, Buckberg GD et al. Immediate functional recovery after six hours of regional ischemia by careful control of conditions of reperfusion and composition of reperfusate. J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. 1986; 92: 621–35. 90 Lindal S, Gunnes S, Lund I, Straume BK, Jorgensen L, Sorlie D. Myocardial and microvascular injury following coronary surgery and its attenuation by mode of reperfusion. Eur. J. Cardiothorac. Surg. 1995; 9: 83–9. 91 Akcora B, Altug ME, Balci A et al. Gradual detorsion of torsioned rat testis attenuates ischemia reperfusion injury. J. Pediatr. Surg. 2008; 43: 1879–84. 92 Honisch A, Theuring N, Ebner B, Wagner C, Strasser RH, Weinbrenner C. Postconditioning with levosimendan reduces the infarct size involving the PI3K pathway and KATP-channel activation but is independent of PDE-III inhibition. Basic Res. Cardiol. 2010; 105: 155–67. 93 Robin E, Simerabet M, Hassoun SM et al. Postconditioning in focal cerebral ischemia: role of the mitochondrial ATP-dependent potassium channel. Brain Res. 2011; 1375: 137–46. 94 Tsounapi P, Saito M, Dimitriadis F et al. The role of K ATP channels on ischemia-reperfusion injury in the rat testis. Life Sci. 2012; 90: 649–56. 95 Shimizu S, Oikawa R, Tsounapi P et al. Blocking of the ATP sensitive potassium channel ameliorates the ischaemia-reperfusion injury in the rat testis. Andrology 2014; 2: 458–65. 96 Majander A, Wikstrom M. The plasma membrane potential of human neutrophils. Role of ion channels and the sodium/potassium pump. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1989; 980: 139–45. 97 Da Silva-Santos JE, Santos-Silva MC, Cunha Fde Q, Assreuy J. The role of ATP-sensitive potassium channels in neutrophil migration and plasma exudation. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 2002; 300: 946–51.
Depolarisation‐Dependent Protein Phosphorylation in Rat Cortical Synaptosomes: Factors Determining the Magnitude of the Response

Abstract: The sequence of molecular events linking depolarisation‐dependent calcium influx to the release of neurotransmitters from nerve terminals is unknown; however, calcium‐stimulated protein phosphorylation may play a role. In this study the incorporation of phosphate into proteins was investigated using an intact postmitochondrial pellet isolated from rat cerebral cortex. The rate and relative incorporation of label into individual phosphoproteins depended on the prelabelling time and buffer concentrations of calcium and phosphate. After prelabelling for 45 min, depolarisation caused a >20% increase in the labelling of 10 phosphoproteins, and this initial increase was maximal with 41 mM K+ for 5 s, or 30 μM veratridine for 15 s, in the presence of 1 mM calcium. Both agents also led to an initial dephosphorylation of four phosphoproteins. Depolarisation for 5 min led to a significant decrease in the labelling of all phosphoproteins. All of the depolarisation‐stimulated changes in protein phosphorylation were calcium‐dependent. The depolarisation conditions found to optimally alter the phosphorylation of synaptosomal proteins find many parallels in studies on calcium uptake and neurotransmitter release. However, the uniform responses of such a large number of phosphoproteins to the multitude of depolarisation conditions studied suggest that the changes could equally well relate to recovery events such as biosynthesis of neurotransmitters and regulation of intraterminal metabolic activity.
Timing of isotopic integration in marine mammal skull: comparative study between calcified tissues.

RATIONALE Tissues with different turnover rates have different isotope compositions and reflect the different periods in an animal's life when the isotopes are incorporated during the growth of tissues. Bone is one of the most used tissues for reconstruction of an animal's diet; however, the time of isotope integration remains unknown for many species. METHODS The δ(15)N and δ(13)C values in tooth dentine and bone tissue from the maxilla and mandible of 21 stranded northern elephant seals, Mirounga angustirostris, collected on the San Benito and Magdalena Islands, Mexico, between 2000 and 2008 were compared. Bone and dentine samples from each growth layer within the tooth were analyzed using a PDZ Europa ANCA-GSL elemental analyzer interfaced with a PDZ Europa 20-20 continuous flow gas source mass spectrometer. RESULTS The δ(15)N and δ(13)C values were not different between bone structures, indicating similar turnover rates, metabolic activity and amino acid compositions. The differences in the observed δ(13)C values between tissues are probably indicative of differences in their amino acid compositions, although the similarities in δ(15)N values indicated less variation from different amino acids. Correlation of the analyses between isotopic values of tissues suggests that the maxilla and/or mandible of M. angustirostris might reflect the δ(15) N signal incorporated during the last 5 years of life of the individuals. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated the usefulness of the applied approach for providing a best approximation of the timing of isotopic integration into the skull of a marine mammal, thereby reducing uncertainty in exploring historic changes in the species' feeding behavior.
UK higher education in recession

Mass higher education (HE) in the UK is a relatively new phenomenon. Between 1960 and 1990, UK participation rates in HE increased gradually from around 5% to 20%, before a rapid expansion between 1990 and 1995 saw a jump to 32%. Since then initial participation has increased further reaching 45.5% in 2008/9 (DBIS 2010). In the prevailing policy narrative, the increase in student places is necessary for the UK's long-run economic success. However, there are a number of unresolved debates relating to the efficient size of the HE sector and the optimal use of resources. In this Issues Paper, two aspects of this debate are highlighted in the light of the current recession and period of recovery: the production process within HE and the use of graduates in the labour market.