Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New perspectives on the regulation of intermembrane glycerophospholipid traffic Published, JLR Papers in Press, January 16, 2003. DOI 10.1194/jlr.R200020-JLR200

In eukaryotes, phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) can serve as a precursor of phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn) and phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho), which are the major cellular phospholipids. PtdSer synthesis originates in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and its subdomain named the mitochondria-associated membrane (MAM). PtdSer is transported to the mitochondria in mammalian cells and yeast, and decarboxylated by PtdSer decarboxylase 1 (Psd1p) to form PtdEtn. A second decarboxylase, Psd2p, is also found in yeast in the Golgi-vacuole. PtdEtn produced by Psd1p and Psd2p can be transported to the ER, where it is methylated to form PtdCho. Organelle-specific metabolism of the aminoglycerophospholipids is a powerful tool for experimentally following lipid traffic that is now enabling identification of new proteins involved in the regulation of this process. Genetic and biochemical experiments demonstrate that transport of PtdSer between the MAM and mitochondria is regulated by protein ubiquitination, which affects events at both membranes. Similar analyses of PtdSer transport to the locus of Psd2p now indicate that a membrane-bound phosphatidylinositol transfer protein and the C2 domain of Psd2p are both required on the acceptor membrane for efficient transport of PtdSer. Collectively, these recent findings indicate that novel multiprotein assemblies on both donor and acceptor membranes participate in interorganelle phospholipid transport.
The Determinants of Industry Political Activity, 1978–1986

While the allocation of interest group monies to specific politicians has been extensively studied, little is known about the factors that determine of the overall level of political activity across groups. We study total contributions by corporate political action committees at the industry level. We create a large data set on industry political activity, covering 124 industries across five election cycles from 1978 to 1986 and sketch out a simple benefit-cost model to predict total corporate PAC contributions in each industry. The few previous studies of this phenomenon use relatively small samples and employ statistical techniques that are either biased or impose untested restrictions. The selectivity-corrected regression technique used here solves these problems. We find that industries with greater potential benefits from government assistance contribute systematically more but that the ability to realize these benefits is constrained by collective action problems facing firms in each industry.
Overreaction to Intra-Industry Information Transfers?

ABSTRACT Prior research has documented that earnings announcements provide information not only about the announcing firm but also about other firms in the same industry. We document a stock market anomaly associated with this phenomenon of intra-industry information transfers by showing that the stock price movements of late announcers in response to earnings reported by early announcers are negatively related to subsequent price responses of late announcers to their own earnings reports. Apparently, the stock market overestimates the intra-industry implications of early announcers' earnings for late announcers' earnings, and that overestimation is corrected when late announcers disclose their earnings. Copyright (c), University of Chicago on behalf of the Institute of Professional Accounting, 2008.
Tabletted microspheres containing Cynara scolymus (var. Spinoso sardo) extract for the preparation of controlled release nutraceutical matrices

Controlled release dosage forms based on tabletted microspheres containing fresh artichoke Cynara scolymus extract were performed for the oral administration of a nutritional supplement. Microspheres were prepared using a spray-drying technique; lactose or hypromellose have been chosen as excipients. Microspheres were characterized in terms of encapsulated extract content, size and morphology. Qualitative and quantitative composition of the extract before and after the spray process was determined. Compressed matrices (tablets) were prepared by direct compression of the spray-dried microspheres. In vitro release tests of microparticles and tablets prepared were carried out in both acidic and neutral media. Spray-drying is a good method to prepare microspheres containing the artichoke extract. The microspheres encapsulate an amount of extract close to the theoretical value. Particle size analyses indicate that the microparticles have dvs of ∼6–7 µm. Electronic microscopy observations reveal that particles based on lactose have spherical shape and particles containing hypromellose are almost collapsed. The hydroalcoholic extract is stable to the microsphere production process: its polyphenolic composition (qualitative and quantitative) did not change after spraying. In vitro release studies show that microparticles characterized by a quick polyphenolic release both in acidic and neutral media due to the high water solubility of the carrier lactose. On the contrary, microspheres based hypromellose release only 20% of the loaded extract at pH 1.2 in 2 h and the total amount of polyphenols is released only after about further 6 h at pH 6.8. Matrices prepared tabletting lactose microspheres and hypromellose microparticles in the weight ratio 1:1 show a slow release rate, that lasts ∼24 h. This one-a-day sustained release formulation containing Cynara scolymus extract could be proposed as a nutraceutical controlled release dosage form for oral administration.
The Voting Decision: Instrumental and Expressive Aspects

O F ALL POSSIBLE POLITICAL ACTIONS the voting decision has received the most attention from behavioral political scientists. Probably we have compiled and analyzed more data on candidate choice and turnout than on any other form of political behavior. Of course, this heavy emphasis comes as no surprise. The voting act is the fundamental political act in a democracy. It is the most widespread political act. Furthermore, on the surface, at least, the voting act would appear to be one of the simplest (and therefore, most understandable) political acts. A heavy scholarly focus on the voting act follows naturally from these considerations. While our data base expands, however, our theoretical superstructure remains far from finished. It is fair to say that political science has relied chiefly on models rooted in the sociological, and later the social-psychological tradition. ' These models hold that
Hierarchical Power Optimization for System-on-a-Chip (SoC)through CMOS Technology Scaling

This report describes an efficient hierarchical design and optimization approach for ultra-low power and minimum area CMOS logic circuits in a system-on-a-chip (SoC) design environment. For state of the art systems, the trade-off solutions between the conflicting design criteria (Delay, Area, and Power) should be considered. In this report, we consider interactions between abstraction levels of the design hierarchy and present techniques that co-optimize the power and the area without performance degradation through judiciously explored technology parameters: Supply voltage, Threshold voltage, and Device width. Experimental results deliver over an order of magnitude savings in power over conventional optimization methods.
Communications to the Editor—A Note on the Shapley Value

In Shapley, L. S. 1953. Additive and non-additive set functions. Ph.D. thesis, Department of Mathematics, Princeton University, Shapley considers a modification of his power index. The modified values are introduced via special weights. This note suggests that those weights should be thought of as coefficients of slowness to reach decision.
Mapping out fuzzy buzzwords - who sits where on sustainability and sustainable development

Environmentalism has spawned a new vocabulary. Even frequently used words are still poorly defined. Different groups use the same words to express different ideas; often definitions are coloured by the groups' incompatible core value systems. This leads to fuzziness and misunderstanding. Such tendencies mean that a common vocabulary does not necessarily make for better communication. Quite the contrary: the use of fuzzy buzzwords prevents different groups from working together to define a shared agenda. Terms like 'sustainable development' and 'sustainability' are widely used but rarely defined by consensus. They succeed in sustaining dialogue but bring with it confusion. Here, the constituent elements of sustainable development are mapped graphically using the principles said to underlie the concept. This not only has the advantage of visually discriminating between so-called weak and strong forms of sustainability but it also opens up the possibility of comparing and contrasting other formulations. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Total quality management in higher education: A case study

This paper addresses instructors' effectiveness as it applies to the performance of students in six different courses. In this era of institutional accountability and fiscal difficulties, instructors' effectiveness has been focused upon with respect to the assessment of students' overall performance. This paper utilizes the randomized complete block of analysis of variance and Duncan's multiple range test to determine the differences among instructors' skills. The statistical analyses reveal that the instructors' performance is significantly lower for algebra and statistics in comparison in accounting, English, COBOL and business communication courses. In conclusion, a set of recommendations are proposed to improve instructors' effectiveness in algebra and statistics.
Loss of Hoxb8 alters spinal dorsal laminae and sensory responses in mice

Although Hox gene expression has been linked to motoneuron identity, a role of these genes in development of the spinal sensory system remained undocumented. Hoxb genes are expressed at high levels in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. Hoxb8 null mutants manifest a striking phenotype of excessive grooming and hairless lesions on the lower back. Applying local anesthesia underneath the hairless skin suppressed excessive grooming, indicating that this behavior depends on peripheral nerve activity. Functional ablation of mouse Hoxb8 also leads to attenuated response to nociceptive and thermal stimuli. Although spinal ganglia were normal, a lower postmitotic neural count was found in the dorsalmost laminae at lumbar levels around birth, leading to a smaller dorsal horn and a correspondingly narrowed projection field of nociceptive and thermoceptive afferents. The distribution of the dorsal neuronal cell types that we assayed, including neurons expressing the itch-specific gastrin-releasing peptide receptor, was disorganized in the lumbar region of the mutant. BrdU labeling experiments and gene-expression studies at stages around the birth of these neurons suggest that loss of Hoxb8 starts impairing development of the upper laminae of the lumbar spinal cord at approximately embryonic day (E)15.5. Because none of the neuronal markers used was unexpressed in the adult dorsal horn, absence of Hoxb8 does not impair neuronal differentiation. The data therefore suggest that a lower number of neurons in the upper spinal laminae and neuronal disorganization in the dorsal horn underlie the sensory defects including the excessive grooming of the Hoxb8 mutant.
Toward a New Atlanticism

Abstract This article traces the concept of the New Atlanticism from 1989, when it was proposed by then Secretary of State James Baker, to the present, when a number of European and American leaders are calling for the creation of a transatlantic political institution that would be empowered to address global problems ranging from humanitarian crises to socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental concerns. Because the objectives of the New Atlanticism transcend the overarching objective of security that NATO was established to acheive, they require a new institution formed specifically to ameliorate or resolve a number of interrelated problems manifest in the world. In its advocacy of a New Atlanticism, this article raises the fundamental question designed to determine whether a new Atlantic Partnership will be formed: Is Europe willing and able to act on the knowledge that it is in its own interests to help the United States resolve crises in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, where the national interests of the United States are at stake? In other words, will Europe become America's indispensable partner?
An Agency Theoretic Analysis of the Professionalized Family Firm

The professionalized firm must evaluate the performance of managers and provide incentives that will motivate them to achieve the firm's goals. Using the agency theoretic framework we develop propositions on how differences in goals, altruistic tendencies, and strategic time horizons might affect performance evaluation and incentive compensation in family firms that employ both family and nonfamily managers and how these differences would affect the performance of the professionalized family firms relative to that of nonfamily firms.
Polecats, lions, and foxes: Coasian bargaining theory and attempts to legitimate the Union as a constrained form of political power

It is often supposed that the European Union (EU) can be legitimated as a Pareto-improving bargain between its member states. This paper explores the assumptions of social choice and political philosophy that lie behind that claim. Starting out from a republican view that a polity needs to satisfy standards of non-arbitrariness if it is to be legitimate, the paper begins by explaining why ‘Coasian’ assumptions of Pareto improvement are so important to arguments for the continued indirect legitimacy of the EU by its member states. The paper then identifies four reasons from the social choice literature why attempts to follow a ‘Coasian’ pathway to Pareto improvement may fail to deliver forms of collective choice at the European level that are non-arbitrary from the point of view of all member state governments: non-neutral starting points, preference drift, indivisibilities, and multiple equilibria. These problems are, in turn, used to identify difficulties that mechanisms of indirect legitimation are likely to encounter in meeting two key conditions political philosophers specify for the non-arbitrary exercise of political power, namely, political justice and ‘democratic self-legislation’.
Temporary layoff unemployment in Austria: empirical evidence from administrative data

Temporary layoffs (rehires, recalls) have been widely recognized as an important feature of North America's labour markets. For Europe, however, several observers have suggested that tighter regulatory impediments to the recruitment and dismissal of employees are responsible for temporary layoff unemployment being virtually non-existent. Against this background this paper uses administrative data to evaluate the quantitative importance of temporary separations among the unemployed in Austria and to track its composition by industries. The main finding of our empirical analysis is that about one-third of all unemployment spells in Austria in 1985 ended with the individual returning to the former employer. Since temporary layoff unemployment was found to be on average of shoter duration, it comprised a somewhat lower fraction of total weeks of unemployment. However, temporary layoff unemployment thus accounts for the same proportion of unemployment in Austria as in the US or Canada.
The management of diabetic neuropathy in CKD.

Diabetic nephropathy is the leading cause of end stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring renal replacement therapy in the U.S.1A The progression of diabetes to advanced stages of chronic kidney disease is associated with the progression of multiple other micro and macrovascular complications of diabetes including diabetic neuropathies1. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is a common complication of diabetes associated with high morbidity, poor quality of life and high risk of lower-extremity amputation. Similarly, cardiac autonomic neuropathy is associated with life-threatening consequences, such as silent myocardial ischemia and high mortality 2-4. In this review we will examine the characteristics of cardiac autonomic neuropathy and diabetic peripheral neuropathy in diabetic patients with stage 4-5 chronic kidney disease (CKD) or end stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing dialysis. We will describe the evidence supporting the available therapeutic options and the challenges associated with providing adequate care for these patients and discuss future directions for investigation.
Reduction of base-transit time of InP-GaInAs HBTs due to electron injection from an energy ramp and base-composition grading

The dc current gain of InP-GaInAs heterojunction bipolar transistors with varying base thickness and composition was measured. Much larger composition grade values than previously reported were achieved using strain compensation. A simple two-parameter Monte Carlo simulation was developed to interpret the results. The simulation yields an accurate plot of the base transit time versus base thickness. Clear evidence for the reduction of base transit time due to hot electron injection was observed in devices with thin uniform bases. The current gain of 45-nm-thick graded base devices saturated as the grading was increased beyond standard values. Grading did not increase the gain of devices with a 20-nm-thick base.
Testing for the random walk hypothesis in the case of visitor arrivals: evidence from Indian tourism

Testing for the random walk hypothesis, which asserts that a series is a non-stationary process or a unit root process, in the case of visitor arrivals has important implications for policy. If, for instance, visitor arrivals are characterized by a unit root, then it implies that shocks to visitor arrivals are permanent. However, if visitor arrivals are without a unit root, this implies that shocks to visitor arrivals are temporary. This study provides evidence on the random walk hypothesis for visitor arrivals to India using the recently developed Im et al. (2003) and Maddala and Wu (1999) panel unit root tests. Both tests allow one to reject the random walk hypothesis, implying that shocks to visitor arrivals to India from the 10 major source markets have a temporary effect on visitor arrivals.
KL-6 mucin in metastatic liver cancer tissues from primary colorectal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND/AIMS KL-6 mucin is MUC1 bearing sialylated carbohydrate epitopes recognized by KL-6 antibody. This study aimed to assess subcellular localization of KL-6 mucin in liver metastatic tissues from colorectal carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma tissues. METHODOLOGY Tissue samples were collected from 56 patients with liver metastasis of colorectal carcinoma and 92 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent a hepatectomy. Tissues were subjected to immunohistochemical analysis using KL-6 antibody. RESULTS All 56 cases with metastatic liver cancer showed positive staining for KL-6 mucin in cancer tissues but not in non-cancerous tissues. All staining was observed in the circumferential membrane and/or cytoplasm of the cancer cells. In contrast, no staining for KL-6 mucin was observed in either cancerous or non-cancerous tissues of the 92 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS KL-6 mucin may be an indicator for liver metastasis of colorectal carcinoma. Additionally, detection of KL-6 mucin may be helpful in distinguishing hepatocellular carcinoma from metastatic liver cancer.
Essays on Sustainable Development and Human Capital

Essays on Sustainable Development and Human Capital Jesse K. Anttila-Hughes Sustainable development is often taken to mean development that improves human well being subject to natural constraints over time, but in practice quantifying sustainability outcomes is often difficult. In this dissertation I seek to better elucidate the relationship between sustainable development and its natural constraints by focusing on human capital outcomes, which I argue provide one of our best summary statistics for “human well being” in general. Whether the constraints are imposed by natural systems (Chapters 2 and 3) or human ones (Chapter 4) I find strong evidence to suggest that attempts to pursue sustainable economic development must deal with nuanced and often conflicting interactions between the human capital invesment and accumulation process and its fundamental constraints.
If Not Here, Where? Understanding Teachers’ Use Of Technology In Silicon Valley Schools

Abstract This article presents results of a survey conducted in the spring of 2004 of practicing teachers in K–12 schools in Santa Clara County, California, also known as “Silicon Valley. ” Exposure to technology in teaching preparation programs, knowledge of software applications, and constructivist beliefs were found to be positively related to more frequent use of technology by teachers, both for themselves and their students. Other factors such as availability of technical support also seem to affect frequency of technology use. It is argued that the individual teachers do not mainly determine technology integration in K–12 classrooms, even in technology-centric regions such as Silicon Valley, but that other technology-specific and contextual factors also play critical roles.
Hybrid and Multiplicative Overlapping Schwarz Algorithms with Standard Coarse Spaces for Mixed Linear Elasticity and Stokes Problems

The goal of this work is to construct and study hybrid and multiplicative two-level overlapping Schwarz algorithms with standard coarse spaces for the almost incompressible linear elasticity and Stokes systems, discretized by mixed finite and spectral element methods with discontinuous pressures. Two different approaches are considered to solve the resulting saddle point systems: a) a preconditioned conjugate gradient (PCG) method applied to the symmetric positive definite reformulation of the almost incompressible linear elasticity system obtained by eliminating the pressure unknowns; b) a GMRES method with indefinite overlapping Schwarz preconditioner applied directly to the saddle point formulation of both the elasticity and Stokes systems. Condition number estimates and convergence properties of the proposed hybrid and multiplicative overlapping Schwarz algorithms are proven for the positive definite reformulation of almost incompressible elasticity. These results are based on our previous study [8] where only additive Schwarz preconditioners were considered for almost incompressible elasticity. Extensive numerical experiments with both finite and spectral elements show that the proposed overlapping Schwarz preconditioners are scalable, quasi-optimal in the number of unknowns across individual subdomains and robust with respect to discontinuities of the material parameters across subdomains interfaces. The results indicate that the proposed preconditioners retain a good performance also when the quasi-monotonicity assumption, required by the available theory, does not hold.
Research Note: The New All-Inclusive Board Formula in Mature Destinations — From Motivation to Satisfaction

This study explores the all-inclusive board formula, recently expanded to traditional and mature destinations. Using a visitor survey conducted in Mallorca, Spain, tourists' main motivations, characterization and spending are explored. In addition, the study analyses the relationship between the all-inclusive formula and loyalty, a key factor for traditional resorts in the Mediterranean that are located near their main origin markets and record high levels of repeat tourism. The statistical evidence suggests that all-inclusive tourists have a lower level of spending, a lower ratio of repeat visit intention and a lower level of satisfaction.