Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Which Foreign States Support the Global Use of the Chinese Renminbi? The International Political Economy of Currency Internationalisation

The internationalisation of the Chinese renminbi has taken a path distinct from most cases involving previous international currencies, in that policy measures adopted by governments have played crucial roles in it. This paper conducts a cross‐country analysis of the factors that have led foreign governments to introduce three primary policy infrastructures to support renminbi use—renminbi swap lines, Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor quotas and renminbi clearing banks. Our analysis shows that a state holding renminbi assets among its reserves or having more developed financial markets is likely to establish a higher level of policy infrastructure supporting renminbi use. We also find that a country's economic and political relations with China may have meaningful impacts on the level of its establishment of those renminbi‐related policy infrastructures. These findings significantly expand our understanding of renminbi internationalisation, by identifying which non‐Chinese factors have affected its progress to date. They also contribute meaningfully to the literature on currency internationalisation and international currencies in general, by calling attention to the roles of foreign states in the process of a currency's internationalisation.
Capital Accumulation, Green Paradox, and Stranded Assets: An Endogenous Growth Perspective

The existing studies on Green Paradox and stranded assets focus on dirty exhaustible assets (fossil fuel reserves) and show that environmental regulations, by changing the costs of dirty inputs relative to clean ones, lead to replacements of the former by the latter and stranding of dirty assets due to perfect substitution. It, in turn, induces acceleration of dirty resource extractions and pollution emissions for fear of dirty assets becoming stranded - the Green Paradox effect. This paper uses an endogenous growth framework to revisit the problem of Green Paradox and stranded assets by taking a new perspective that focuses on capital accumulation with investment irreversibility. We show that if 1) direct irreversibility of investment does not rule out the indirect channel of converting dirty capital goods into clean ones through final goods allocations, and 2) interactions between dirty and clean capital as imperfect substitutes can generate reciprocal effects, then environmental regulation, through directing investment towards clean capital, does not necessarily leads to asset stranding of dirty capital. Accumulation of clean capital with a pollution-saving effect offsets the polluting impact of dirty one and leads to reversed Green Paradox. We further propose an endogenous growth mechanism through which the accumulation of both dirty and clean capital, as well as environmental improvement, can be sustained in the long run without converging to the steady state.
Estudio-diagnóstico de las capacidades tecnológicas para las pymes cartageneras

espanolEl presente trabajo surge por la necesidad deayudar a las Pymes de la ciudad de Cartagena deIndias a aumentar sus indices de competitividad, yaque es innegable el valor que estas organizacionestienen y reflejan en la situacion de las regiones,puesto que son una fuente de recursos y de trabajoa la poblacion. Por este motivo se realiza estainvestigacion, la cual tiene como objetivo principalrealizar un estudio- diagnostico a las pequenasempresas del sector comercial de la ciudad deCartagena para identificar y fortalecer sus factorescriticos de exito y hacerlas mas competitivas anivel local, nacional e internacional. Para realizar lainvestigacion se hizo uso de una metodologia decaracter descriptivo, se tomo como herramienta demedicion una encuesta, la cual arrojo unos datosque posteriormente fueron analizados con ayuda desoftware estadisticos como SSPS y NtSys, de estamanera se identificaran las capacidades internasy externas de la organizacion, como tambien lasprincipales tendencias tecnologicas y redes deconocimiento de las tecnologias seleccionadas enla organizacion. Por ultimo estos resultados nospermitiran reflexionar y proporcionar acciones demejora que minimicen las brechas tecnologicasde las organizaciones estudiadas, mejorando losaspectos comerciales, competitivos y de innovacion. EnglishCartagena de Indias ´s SMEs since there isundeniable the value that these organizationshave and reflect in the situation of the regionssince they are these a source of resources andof work to the population of the country. Forthis motive there was realized this investigation,which has as principal aim realize a study - Idiagnose to the small enterprises, of this formthe critical factors of success were identifiedand to make them more competitive to local,national and international level. At thismoment the city bets him inside his plan ofcompetitiveness on the sectors: Petrochemicalplastic, agroindustrial, logistic, port andtourist. To realize the investigation one useda methodology of descriptive character, Itake as a tool of measurement a survey, whichI throw a few information that later wereanalyzed by help of software as: NetDraw,SSPS and NtSys, hereby were identifying theprincipal technological trends and networksof knowledge of the technologies selected inthe organization. Followed the technologicalcapacity will measure up across instrumentsof evaluation that show the conditions of thecompany in different areas. Finally these resultswill allow us to think over and to provideactions of improvement that minimize thetechnological gaps, improve the situation of thecompany, the stability of this one on the marketand the level of competitiveness.
New Characteristics and Hedonic Price Index Numbers

Abstract Changes in product characteristics on the extensive margin (the addition of new features and the removal of old ones) are an important and hitherto neglected dimension of quality change. Standard techniques for adjusting price indices for new goods cannot handle such changes satisfactorily, and this leads to an economically and statistically significant bias in the measurement of prices and real output. We combine insights from the theories of exact index numbers and demand for characteristics to develop a new method for incorporating changes on the extensive characteristic margin. Applied to U.K. data on new car sales, our method leads to revisions in estimated inflation rates for this commodity group that are both plausible and quantitatively important.
Rumen protein degradation rates estimated by non-linear regression analysis of Michaelis–Menten in vitro data

An in vitro method applying Michaelis–Menten saturation kinetics was developed as an alternative approach for estimating protein degradation rates in the rumen. Non-linear regression (NLR) analysis of the integrated Michaelis–Menten equation yielded fractional degradation rates, kd, from direct estimates of the maximum velocity: Michaelis constant ratio (kd = Vmax: Km). Degradation rates obtained using data from a series of 2 h inhibitor in vitro incubations were respectively 0.989, 0.134, and 0.037 /h for casein, solvent soya-bean meal (SSBM) and expeller soya-bean meal (ESBM). Degradation rates obtained from 2 h incubations had lower standard errors than those obtained using 1 h incubations; 2 h rates were not significantly different from 1 h rates, suggesting end-product inhibition was not significant at 2 h. The NLR Michaelis–Menten method was used to determine degradation rates for twelve protein sources: casein, bovine serum albumin, two samples of lucerne (Medicago sativa) hay, and four samples each of SSBM and ESBM. Statistical analysis of NLR results revealed significant differences among the twelve protein sources. Casein was degraded most rapidly (0.827 /h), and the four ESBM samples most slowly (0.050–0.098 /h). Degradation rate for serum albumin was 0.135 /h; rates for SSBM and lucerne hays ranged from 0.160 to 0.208 /h. Degradation rates estimated using the NLR method were more rapid than those obtained with a limited substrate approach; NLR rates were more consistent with in vivo estimates of rumen protein escape. Greater concentrations of slowly degraded proteins were needed with the NLR method to define curvilinearity of the degradation curve more accurately. Protein degradation rate: Rumen protein escape: Michaelis–Menten kinetics: Non-linear regression
Melanoma genetics: an update with focus on the CDKN2A(p16)/ARF tumor suppressors.

UNLABELLED Investigative interest in atypical nevi and familial melanoma has contributed to the identification of several candidate melanoma loci within the human genome. Molecular defects in both tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes have been pathogenically linked to melanoma in recent studies. Of the loci currently characterized, the major gene resides on chromosome 9p and encodes a tumor suppressor designated p16. This gene, which is also known as CDKN2A, is either mutated or deleted in a large majority of melanoma cell lines, as well as in many uncultured melanoma cells and in the germline of melanoma kindreds. A novel aspect of the p16 locus is that it encodes not just one but two separate gene products that are transcribed in alternative reading frames. Both products function as negative regulators of cell cycle progression. The p16 protein itself executes its effects by competitively inhibiting cyclin-dependent kinase 4, which is a factor necessary for cellular progression through a major regulatory transition of the cell division cycle. Inherited and acquired deletions or point mutations in the p16 gene increase the likelihood that potentially mutagenic DNA damage will escape repair before cell division. Notably, the second product of the locus, ARF (for alternative reading frame), regulates cell growth through independent effects on the p53 pathway. Although there is little evidence that ARF by itself is involved in the pathogenesis of melanoma, deletions at the p16 locus disable two separate pathways that control cell growth. These recent advances open up the possibility of genetic testing for melanoma susceptibility in the setting of familial melanoma and suggest novel therapeutic strategies for melanoma based on gene therapy or small molecule mimicry targeted to the correction of defects in the p16 regulatory pathway. (J Am Acad Dermatol 2000;42:705-22.) LEARNING OBJECTIVE At the conclusion of this learning activity, participants should be familiar with the historical aspects of melanoma genetics and should have a greater understanding of the CDKN2A(p16)/ARF tumor suppressor genes.
Investigation of skin vasoreactivity and blood flow oscillations in hypertensive patients: effect of short-term antihypertensive treatment

Background and method In order to evaluate whether arterial hypertension (AH) affects skin microcirculation, 46 newly diagnosed, never-treated, hypertensive patients and 20 healthy normotensive controls underwent a forearm skin postocclusive reactive hyperaemia (PORH) test, using laser-Doppler flowmetry (LDF). Their resting skin blood flow oscillations (SBFOs) were also investigated using wavelet spectral analyses of skin LDF tracings within six frequency subintervals in the 0.005–2 Hz spectral range. To evaluate whether antihypertensive treatment affects skin microcirculation, the same measurements were repeated in 22 of the recruited hypertensive patients after 8 ± 2 weeks of antihypertensive treatment. Results Significantly reduced PORH, together with significantly higher spectral amplitudes within the majority of the investigated SBFO subintervals, was found in untreated hypertensive patients compared with controls. In the 22 hypertensive patients who completed the follow-up, there was a significant increase in PORH after antihypertensive treatment compared with before (357 ± 178 vs. 284 ± 214%, respectively, P < 0.05). Following antihypertensive treatment, the same 22 hypertensive patients did not differ significantly from controls either in PORH or in the majority of the investigated SBFO frequency subintervals. Conclusion This study showed reduced skin vasoreactivity in the hypertensive patients, confirming that antihypertensive treatment negatively affects skin microcirculation. The short period of efficacious antihypertensive treatment resulted in normalization of skin vasoreactivity in hypertensive patients who completed the follow-up, suggesting that antihypertensive treatment affects positively skin microcirculation in AH. The SBFO increase in untreated hypertensive patients, and its almost complete normalization in treated hypertensive patients, suggests that SBFO enhancement in untreated hypertensive patients could be an adaptive reversible response to AH.
Exacerbation of Congestive Heart Failure After Administration of Polyethylene Glycol–Electrolyte Lavage Solution

Objective: To report a patient with exacerbation of congestive heart failure after administration of polyethylene glycol–electrolyte lavage solution (PEG–ELS). Methods: A MEDLINE search was performed, using the terms congestive heart failure (CHF), gastric lavage, colonoscopy, irrigation, and gastroparesis, of English-language articles published from January 1980 through January 1995, as well as review of pertinent articles' bibliographies. Case Summary: A 45-year-old white woman with left ventricular systolic dysfunction and diabetic gastroparesis received 4 L of a PEG–ELS as preparation for colonoscopy. Within 24 hours she presented to the emergency department with shortness of breath and increased bilateral lower extremity edema. She was admitted and treated with intravenous furosemide therapy. After aggressive diuresis her symptoms returned to baseline and she was discharged. Discussion: The literature search revealed no report of a patient requiring hospitalization as a result of sodium and water retention after bowel preparation with PEG–ELS. CHF is not considered a contraindication to the use of this solution; however, most studies that included patients with heart failure did not describe the degree of left ventricular dysfunction. Our patient's severe CHF, in combination with chronic renal insufficiency, resulted in significant retention of sodium and water. Conclusions: Patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction and chronic renal insufficiency who are being considered for procedures that necessitate bowel cleansing with PEG–ELS may be at risk for sodium and water retention and exacerbation of CHF.
Laparoscopic hernioplasty: why does it work?

BACKGROUND To understand how laparoscopic hernioplasty prevents early recurrence of hernia, we reviewed our first 1,000 patients. We analyzed the patients by age, sex, and hernia type and by whether their hernia was primary or recurrent. METHODS The 1,000 patients had 1,336 hernias repaired by the transabdominal preperitoneal or the totally extraperitoneal approach. One thousand one hundred seventy-three hernias were primary and 163 were recurrent. The type of hernia found varied with the patient's age (p < 0.001), and with whether the hernia was primary or recurrent (p < 0.001); 14% of primary and 27% of recurrent hernias were complex, a surprisingly high incidence compared to historical controls. RESULTS With a median follow-up of 2 years, five hernias have recurred and all were due to technical errors. CONCLUSIONS The laparoscopic repair's success may partially be due to its unique ability to diagnose previously overlooked complex elements. The defects are repaired without creating tension and the groin is reinforced with mesh, eliminating inherent weakness.
Genome-wide identification and analysis of the MADS-box gene family in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

The MADS-box genes encode transcription factors with key roles in plant growth and development. A comprehensive analysis of the MADS-box gene family in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) has not yet been conducted, and our understanding of their roles in stress is rather limited. Here, we report the identification and characterization of the MADS-box gene family in wheat. A total of 180 MADS-box genes classified as 32 Mα, 5 Mγ, 5 Mδ, and 138 MIKC types were identified. Evolutionary analysis of the orthologs among T. urartu, Aegilops tauschii and wheat as well as homeologous sequences analysis among the three sub-genomes in wheat revealed that gene loss and chromosomal rearrangements occurred during and/or after the origin of bread wheat. Forty wheat MADS-box genes that were expressed throughout the investigated tissues and development stages were identified. The genes that were regulated in response to both abiotic stresses (i.e., phosphorus deficiency, drought, heat, and combined drought and heat) and biotic stresses (i.e., Fusarium graminearum, Septoria tritici, stripe rust and powdery mildew) were detected as well. A few notable MADS-box genes were specifically expressed in a single tissue and those showed relatively higher expression differences between the stress and control treatment. The expression patterns of considerable MADS-box genes differed from those of their orthologs in Brachypodium, rice, and Arabidopsis. Collectively, the present study provides new insights into the possible roles of MADS-box genes in response to stresses and will be valuable for further functional studies of important candidate MADS-box genes.
pA506, a Conjugative Plasmid of the Plant Epiphyte Pseudomonas fluorescens A506

ABSTRACT Conjugative plasmids are known to facilitate the acquisition and dispersal of genes contributing to the fitness of Pseudomonas spp. Here, we report the characterization of pA506, the 57-kb conjugative plasmid of Pseudomonas fluorescens A506, a plant epiphyte used in the United States for the biological control of fire blight disease of pear and apple. Twenty-nine of the 67 open reading frames (ORFs) of pA506 have putative functions in conjugation, including a type IV secretion system related to that of MOBP6 family plasmids and a gene cluster for type IV pili. We demonstrate that pA506 is self-transmissible via conjugation between A506 and strains of Pseudomonas spp. or the Enterobacteriaceae. The origin of vegetative replication (oriV) of pA506 is typical of those in pPT23A family plasmids, which are present in many pathovars of Pseudomonas syringae, but pA506 lacks repA, a defining locus for pPT23A plasmids, and has a novel partitioning region. We selected a plasmid-cured derivative of A506 and compared it to the wild type to identify plasmid-encoded phenotypes. pA506 conferred UV resistance, presumably due to the plasmid-borne rulAB genes, but did not influence epiphytic fitness of A506 on pear or apple blossoms in the field. pA506 does not appear to confer resistance to antibiotics or other toxic elements. Based on the conjugative nature of pA506 and the large number of its genes that are shared with plasmids from diverse groups of environmental bacteria, the plasmid is likely to serve as a vehicle for genetic exchange between A506 and its coinhabitants on plant surfaces.
FEV1 response to bronchodilation in an adult urban population.

BACKGROUND Most studies evaluating bronchodilation in flow-volume spirometry have been conducted in patients with obstructive airways diseases, but less is known about bronchodilation responses in the general population or in healthy subjects. METHODS We evaluated an urban population sample of 628 adults (260 men, 368 women) aged 25 to 74 years with flow-volume spirometry using inhalation of 0.4 mg of a salbutamol aerosol with a spacer device for bronchodilation. On the basis of a structured interview, a subgroup of 219 healthy, asymptomatic nonsmokers was selected. RESULTS In the population sample, the average increase in FEV(1) from baseline after salbutamol inhalation was 77.2 mL (SD, 109.7 mL) or 2.5% (SD, 3.9%). In healthy asymptomatic nonsmokers, the mean change in FEV(1) was 62.0 mL (SD, 89.7 mL) or 1.8% (SD, 2.6%). In the whole population, the 95th percentile limit of the increase in FEV(1) was 8.5%, while it was 5.9% among healthy asymptomatic nonsmokers. The absolute change in FEV(1) correlated significantly with baseline FVC (p < 0.01). The FEV(1)/FVC ratio at baseline was the strongest influencing factor for the bronchodilation response. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that a significant increase in FEV(1) from baseline in a bronchodilation test is around 9% in an urban population. The level of the significant absolute increase in FEV(1) seems to depend on FVC. Low baseline FEV(1)/FVC ratio, reflecting airflow limitation, is the strongest determinant for FEV(1) response to bronchodilation.
The Conceptions of Family and Labor Economy and Peasants' Cooperation in Works by A.V. Chayanov

Рассматривается вопрос эффективного функционирования семейно-трудового крестьянского хозяйства в России согласно научным исследованиям А. В. Чаянова. Авторы проследили эволюцию взглядов советского экономиста на ключевые проблемы развития сельского хозяйства, российской деревни в дореволюционный период, эпоху военного коммунизма, НЭПа и коллективизации. Особое внимание уделено крестьянской кооперации как вертикальной интеграции крестьянских хозяйств с целью более эффективного их встраивания в рыночные отношения. Ключевые слова: крестьянское хозяйство; кооперативное движение; трудопотребительский баланс; организационный план; производительность; доход; факторы производства.
:Church Robbers and Reformers in Germany 1525-1547: Confiscation and Religious Purpose in the Holy Roman Empire

The confiscation or destruction of church property in the Reformation has, in the English-speaking literature, commonly been seen under two signs: either the wave of image-breaking in the early phase of enthusiastic activism, or the expropriation or dissolution of ecclesiastical corporations, principally the religious houses, in the later years of calculated policy. For the Holy Roman Empire this has always been too simple a view. The legal status,administration, and deployment of church assets have in recent years been touched upon in studies of the Schmalkaldic League (Haug-Moritz), ecclesiastical governance in the territorial states (Sieglerschmidt), Protestant politics on a regional level (Brady), the ecclesiastical principalities themselves (Wolgast), or Luther and Melanchthon’s concept of secular rule (Estes), but none has addressed the issue of “church robbery” head-on. Reading Christopher Ocker’s detailed and scholarly analysis (which draws heavily upon these works), one can see why: the picture he paints is of an issue at once legal and theological, territorial and imperial,confronting long-standing Catholic efforts at church reform with attempted Protestant innovation, the outcome of which was often messy, at times contradictory, and always prey to wider political and diplomatic considerations. One of the most startling of Ocker’s findings is how infrequently and haltingly Protestant theologians in the 1520s and 1530s sought to elaborate a coherent doctrine of the legal status of church property, but then they were caught between the competing interests of princes and cities, evangelical and Reformed wings, and within the Wittenberg camp between Melanchthon and Luther himself. When a clear line emerged at the end of the 1530s (in submissions to the Eisenach diet of the Schmalkaldic League), it was Wolfgang Musculus and Bonifacius Wolfahrt (rather than the eirenic Martin Bucer) who affirmed that confiscations or reassignments could be justified under existing Catholic legal teaching,underpinning their case with copious citations from both canon and Roman law. Their argument, that all church property had been given to honor God and Christ’s ministry, meant that it belonged to the community of believers as a common possession for the common good.