bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Lactobacillus helveticusandBifidobacterium longumtaken in combination reduce the apoptosis propensity in the limbic system after myocardial infarction in a rat model
Authors: Girard Stéphanie-Anne , Bah Thierno Madjou , Kaloustian Sévan , Lada-Moldovan Laura , Rondeau Isabelle , Tompkins Thomas A. , Godbout Roger , Rousseau Guy 
Published: June 2009

Myocardial infarction (MI) stimulates the release of pro-inflammatory substances that induce apoptosis in the limbic system. Pro-inflammatory cytokines are considered as the root cause of apoptosis, although the mechanism is not fully explained and/or understood at this time. In addition, depression may induce gastrointestinal perturbations that maintain the elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. It has been shown that some specific probiotic formulations may reduce gastrointestinal problems induced by stress and the pro/anti-inflammatory cytokine ratio. Therefore, we hypothesised that probiotics, when given prophylactically, may diminish the apoptosis propensity in the limbic system following a MI. Male adult Sprague–Dawley rats were given probiotics (Lactobacillus helveticusandBifidobacterium longumin combination) or placebo in their drinking-water for four consecutive weeks. A MI was then induced in the rats by occluding the left anterior coronary artery for 40 min. Rats were killed following a 72 h reperfusion period. Infarct size was not different in the two groups. Bax/Bcl-2 (pro-apoptotic/anti-apoptotic) ratio and caspase-3 (pro-apoptotic) activity were reduced in the amygdala (lateral and medial), as well as in the dentate gyrus in the probiotics group when compared with the placebo. Akt activity (anti-apoptotic) was increased in these same three regions. No significant difference was observed in Ca1 and Ca3 for the different markers measured. In conclusion, the probioticsL. helveticusandB. longum, given in combination as preventive therapy, reduced the predisposition of apoptosis found in different cerebral regions following a MI.
GENDER DIFFERENCE IN HEALTH AND ITS DETERMINANTS IN THE OLD-AGED POPULATION IN INDIA
Authors: DHAK BIPLAB 
Published: June 2009

SummaryThis paper examines the gender differential in health and its socioeconomic and demographic determinants in the old-age population of India based on the National Sample Survey 60th round data collected in 2004. As in developed countries, older women in India report poorer self-reported health and experience greater immobility compared with men. Stepwise logistic regression analysis shows that the gender differential in health is linked to various socioeconomic and demographic variables and that the gender gap could be narrowed with appropriate policy intervention. Specifically, paying special attention towards improving the socioeconomic status of widowed/separated women could attenuate a substantial portion of the observed gender gap in the health of the old-age population.
MATERNAL SMOKING AND ACUTE RESPIRATORY INFECTION SYMPTOMS AMONG YOUNG CHILDREN IN NEPAL: MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS
Authors: DAHAL GOVINDA P. , JOHNSON FIIFI AMOAKO , PADMADAS SABU S. 
Published: June 2009

SummaryThe association between maternal smoking and adverse child health outcomes has not been systematically explored in less developed countries, especially in Nepal where over a quarter of women of reproductive age smoke tobacco products. This study aims to quantify the effect of maternal smoking on acute respiratory infection (ARI) symptoms among children aged below five years, using the 2001 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey. It is hypothesized that children born to mothers who smoke frequently are at higher risk of developing ARI symptoms. Four-level random intercept logistic regression models were used to disentangle the independent effect of maternal smoking on children's ARI symptoms, controlling for potential biological, socioeconomic, seasonal and spatial variables. Maternal smoking status had a significant effect on children's ARI symptoms; the effects were significantly higher (adjusted OR 1.41; 95% CI 1.02–1.96) among those born to mothers who smoked more frequently than their counterparts. Furthermore, a strong spatial pattern was evident in the prevalence of ARI symptoms, after adjusting for maternal smoking and relevant control variables. The findings underscore the importance of designing exclusive public health intervention measures to prevent tobacco smoking within households, for example through awareness campaigns highlighting the adverse effect of maternal smoking on child health.
A Joint Framework for Consistently Pricing Interest Rates and Interest Rate Derivatives
Authors: Heidari Massoud , Wu Liuren 
Published: June 2009

AbstractDynamic term structure models explain the yield curve variation well but perform poorly in pricing and hedging interest rate options. Most existing option pricing practices take the yield curve as given, thus having little to say about the fair valuation of the underlying interest rates. This paper proposes an m + n model structure that bridges the gap in the literature by successfully pricing both interest rates and interest rate options. The first m factors capture the yield curve variation, whereas the latter n factors capture the interest rate options movements that cannot be effectively identified from the yield curve. We propose a sequential estimation procedure that identifies the m yield curve factors from the LIBOR and swap rates in the first step and the n options factors from interest rate caps in the second step. The three yield curve factors explain over 99% of the variation in the yield curve but account for less than 50% of the implied volatility variation for the caps. Incorporating three additional options factors improves the explained variation in implied volatilities to over 99%.
Does Prior Performance Affect a Mutual Fund’s Choice of Risk? Theory and Further Empirical Evidence
Authors: Chen Hsiu-lang , Pennacchi George G. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractRecent empirical studies of mutual fund competition examine the relation between a fund’s performance, the fund manager’s compensation, and the fund manager’s choice of portfolio risk. This paper models a manager’s portfolio choice for compensation rules that can be either a concave, linear, or convex function of the fund’s performance relative to that of a benchmark. For particular compensation structures, a manager increases the fund’s “tracking error” volatility as its relative performance declines. However, declining performance does not necessarily lead the manager to raise the volatility of the fund’s return. The paper presents nonparametric and parametric tests of the relation between mutual fund performance and risk taking for more than 6,000 equity mutual funds over the 1962 to 2006 period. There is a tendency for mutual funds to increase the standard deviation of tracking errors, but not the standard deviation of returns, as their performance declines. This risk-shifting behavior appears more common for funds whose managers have longer tenures.
Commonality in Liquidity: A Global Perspective
Authors: Brockman Paul , Chung Dennis Y. , Pérignon Christophe 
Published: June 2009

AbstractWe conduct a comprehensive study of commonality in liquidity using intraday spread and depth data from 47 stock exchanges. We find that firm-level changes in liquidity are significantly influenced by exchange-level changes across most of the world’s stock exchanges. Emerging Asian exchanges have exceptionally strong commonality, while those of Latin America exhibit little if any commonality. After documenting the pervasive role of commonality within individual exchanges, we examine commonality across exchanges. We find evidence of a distinct, global component in bid-ask spreads and depths. Local (exchange-level) sources of commonality represent roughly 39% of the firm’s total commonality in liquidity, while global sources contribute an additional 19%. We also investigate potential sources of exchange-level and global commonality. We show that commonality is driven by both domestic and U.S. macroeconomic announcements.
Is There an Intertemporal Relation between Downside Risk and Expected Returns?
Authors: Bali Turan G. , Demirtas K. Ozgur , Levy Haim 
Published: June 2009

AbstractThis paper examines the intertemporal relation between downside risk and expected stock returns. Value at Risk (VaR), expected shortfall, and tail risk are used as measures of downside risk to determine the existence and significance of a risk-return tradeoff. We find a positive and significant relation between downside risk and the portfolio returns on NYSE/AMEX/Nasdaq stocks. VaR remains a superior measure of risk when compared with the traditional risk measures. These results are robust across different stock market indices, different measures of downside risk, loss probability levels, and after controlling for macroeconomic variables and volatility over different holding periods as originally proposed by Harrison and Zhang (1999).
A note on the trapped electron dust grain current
Authors: BERBRI ABDERREZAK , TRIBECHE MOULOUD 
Published: June 2009

AbstractIt is shown that when the non-isothermal trapped electron current is rederived based on the orbit-limited motion theory, the variable dust charge can be expressed in terms of the Lambert function. One can then take advantage of this new transcendental function to illustrate how variable-charge nonlinear trapped dust modes can be investigated semi-analytically.
The homoclinic and heteroclinic C*-algebras of a generalized one-dimensional solenoid
Authors: THOMSEN KLAUS 
Published: June 2009

AbstractD. Ruelle and I. Putnam have constructed three C*-algebras from the homoclinic and heteroclinic structure of a Smale space. This paper gives gives a complete description of these algebras when the Smale space is one of the generalized one-dimensional solenoids studied by R. Williams and I. Yi.
Self-similar and self-affine sets: measure of the intersection of two copies
Authors: ELEKES MÁRTON , KELETI TAMÁS , MÁTHÉ ANDRÁS 
Published: June 2009

AbstractLetK⊂ℝdbe a self-similar or self-affine set and letμbe a self-similar or self-affine measure on it. Let 𝒢 be the group of affine maps, similitudes, isometries or translations of ℝd. Under various assumptions (such as separation conditions, or the assumption that the transformations are small perturbations, or thatKis a so-called Sierpiński sponge) we prove theorems of the following types, which are closely related to each other.•(Non-stability)There exists a constantc<1 such that for everyg∈𝒢 we have eitherμ(K∩g(K))<c⋅μ(K) orK⊂g(K).•(Measure and topology)For everyg∈𝒢 we haveμ(K∩g(K))>0⟺∫K(K∩g(K))≠0̸ (where ∫Kis interior relative toK).•(Extension)The measureμhas a 𝒢-invariant extension to ℝd.Moreover, in many situations we characterize thosegfor whichμ(K∩g(K))>0. We also obtain results about thosegfor whichg(K)⊂Korg(K)⊃K.
Measure of the Julia set of the Feigenbaum map with infinite criticality
Authors: LEVIN GENADI , ŚWIA̧TEK GRZEGORZ 
Published: June 2009

AbstractWe consider fixed points of the Feigenbaum (periodic-doubling) operator whose orders tend to infinity. It is known that the hyperbolic dimension of their Julia sets goes to 2. We prove that the Lebesgue measure of these Julia sets tend to zero. An important part of the proof consists in applying martingale theory to a stochastic process with non-integrable increments.
Experimental and theoretical investigations of mechanisms responsible for plasma jets formation at PALS
Authors: Kasperczuk A. , Pisarczyk T. , Demchenko N.N. , Gus'kov S.Yu. , Kalal M. , Ullschmied J. , Krousky E. , Masek K. , Pfeifer M. , Rohlena K. , Skala J. , Pisarczyk P. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractRecent experimental results demonstrated that well formed plasma jets can be produced at laser interaction with targets made of materials with high atomic number (A ≥ 29 where A = 29 corresponds to Cu). On the contrary, it is impossible to launch a plasma jet on low-A material targets like plastic. This paper is aimed at explanation of this difference by considering mechanisms responsible for plasma jet formation, i.e., the radiative cooling of ablative plasma and the influence of target irradiation annular profile speculated hitherto, newly complemented by different expansion regimes of the Cu and plastic plasmas (provided by numerical simulations). The experiment was carried out with the PALS iodine laser. Two different planar massive targets, plastic and Cu, as well as the plastic target covered by thin Cu layers of various thicknesses were irradiated by the third harmonic laser beam of energy of 30 J, pulse duration of 250 ps (full width at half maximum), and the focal spot radius of 400 µm. To find the most suitable range of these layers (from 28 to 190 nm) a simple analytical model of laser-driven evaporation was developed. Three-frame laser interferometer and an X-ray streak camera were used as two main diagnostic tools. Numerical modeling was performed with the use of two-dimensional hydrodynamic code ATLANT-HE. Results provided from experiments and theoretical analyses have proved that the process of plasma jet formation is rather complex. Relative importance of the three mechanisms mentioned above depends on the target irradiation geometry as well as the target material used.
Ion acceleration by short high intensity laser pulse in small target sets
Authors: Andreev A. , Platonov K. , Kawata S. 
Published: June 2009

AbstractIon acceleration by short, high intensity laser pulses in sets of small targets is treated by an analytical model developed here, and by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. When an intense short laser pulse illuminates a thin foil target at normal incidence, electrons in the target are accelerated by the ponderomotive force. At the rear surface of the foil they generate a strong electric field that accelerates the ions, and generates an ion beam of small divergence. Using a mass-limited small target like a droplet enhances the ion energy, but increases divergence at the same time. In this paper, a combination of several-micron targets in a periodic structure (for example, a droplet chain) is proposed in order to increase the conversion efficiency from the incident laser beam to the emergent protons. Improvement of the energy flux conversion efficiency from the laser to the ion beam at optimal conditions is demonstrated.
Environmental and ecological potential for enzootic cycles of Puumala hantavirus in Great Britain
Authors: BENNETT E. , CLEMENT J. , SANSOM P. , HALL I. , LEACH S. , MEDLOCK J. M. 
Published: June 2009

SUMMARYPuumala virus (PUUV) is a zoonotic rodent-borne hantavirus in continental Europe. Its reservoir host, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), is ubiquitous in Great Britain (GB); however, there has been no reported incidence of virus in either animals or humans. In northwest Europe, increases in bank vole numbers, stimulated by increases in production of beech/oak crops (mast), are associated with outbreaks of nephropathia epidemica (NE) in humans. These so-called ‘mast years’ are determined by sequential climatic events. This paper investigates the contribution of a number of ecological and environmental factors driving outbreaks of PUUV in northwest Europe and assesses whether such factors might also permit enzootic PUUV circulation in GB. Analysis of GB climate data, using regression models, confirms that mast years in GB are stimulated, and can be predicted, by the same climatic events as mast years in PUUV-endemic regions of northwest Europe. A number of other possible non-climatic constraints on enzootic cycles are discussed.
National mortality rates from chronic liver disease and consumption of alcohol and pig meat
Authors: DALTON H. R. , BENDALL R. P. , PRITCHARD C. , HENLEY W. , MELZER D. 
Published: June 2009

SUMMARYA correlation between national pig-meat consumption and mortality rates from chronic liver disease (CLD) across developed countries was reported in 1985. One possible mechanism explaining this may be hepatitis E infection spread via pig meat. We aimed to re-examine the original association in more recent international data. Regression models were used to estimate associations between national pig-meat consumption and CLD mortality, adjusting for confounders. Data on CLD mortality, alcohol consumption, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) seroprevalence for 18 developed countries (1990–2000) were obtained from WHO databases. Data on national pig-meat and beef consumption were obtained from the UN database. Univariate regression showed that alcohol and pig-meat consumption were associated with mortality from CLD, but beef consumption, HBV and HCV seroprevalence were not. A 1 litreper capitaincrease in alcohol consumption was associated with an increase in mortality from CLD in excess of 1·6 deaths/100 000 population. A 10 kg higher national annual averageper capitaconsumption of pork meat was associated with an increase in mortality from CLD of between 4 and 5 deaths/100 000 population. Multivariate regression showed that alcohol, pig-meat consumption and HBV seroprevalence were independently associated with mortality from CLD, but HCV seroprevalence was not. Pig-meat consumption remained independently associated with mortality from CLD in developed countries in the 1990–2000 period. Further work is needed to establish the mechanism.
Quinolone-resistant Salmonella Typhi in South Africa, 2003–2007
Authors: SMITH A. M. , GOVENDER N. , KEDDY K. H. 
Published: June 2009

SUMMARYIn South Africa, for the years 2003–2007, the Enteric Diseases Reference Unit received 510 human isolates of Salmonella Typhi, of which 27 were nalidixic acid-resistant [minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) 128–512 μg/ml] with reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin (MICs 0·125–0·5 μg/ml). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis of 19 available isolates differentiated them into five DNA pattern types; multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis differentiated the isolates into 10 types. This level of genetic diversity suggested that resistant strains usually emerged independently of one another. A 16- to 32-fold decrease in nalidixic acid MIC and a 2- to 8-fold decrease in ciprofloxacin MIC, was observed in the presence of an efflux pump inhibitor. All isolates were negative by PCR screening for qnr genes. Seven resistant isolates were further analysed for mutations in the quinolone resistance-determining region of gyrA, gyrB, parC and parE. No amino-acid mutations were identified in GyrB and ParE; all isolates showed amino-acid mutations in both GyrA and ParC. We conclude that amino-acid mutations in GyrA and ParC in combination with active efflux of antibiotic out of the bacterial cell are the probable mechanisms conferring quinolone resistance.
Feature-based generalisation as a source of gradient acceptability
Authors: Albright Adam 
Published: June 2009

AbstractPhonological judgements are often gradient: blick>?bwick>*bnick>**bzick. The mechanisms behind gradient generalisation remain controversial, however. This paper tests the role of phonological features in helping speakers evaluate which novel combinations receive greater lexical support. A model is proposed in which the acceptability of a string is based on the most probable combination of natural classes that it instantiates. The model is tested on its ability to predict acceptability ratings of nonce words, and its predictions are compared against those of models that lack features or economise on feature specifications. The proposed model achieves the best balance of performance on attested and unattested sequences, and is a significant predictor of acceptability even after the other models are factored out. The feature-based model's predictions do not completely subsume those of simpler models, however. This may indicate multiple levels of evaluation, involving segment-based phonotactic probability and feature-based gradient phonological grammaticality.
Greek wh-questions and the phonology of intonation
Authors: Arvaniti Amalia , Ladd D. Robert 
Published: June 2009

AbstractThe intonation of Greek wh-questions consists of a rise-fall followed by a low plateau and a final rise. Using acoustic data, we show (i) that the exact contour shape depends on the length of the question, and (ii) that the position of the first peak and the low plateau depends on the position of the stressed syllables, and shows predictable adjustments in alignment, depending on the proximity of adjacent tonal targets. Models that specify the F0 of all syllables, or models that specify F0 by superposing contour shapes for shorter and longer domains, cannot account for such fine-grained lawful variation except by using ad hoc tonal specifications, which, in turn, do not allow for phonological generalisations about contours applying to utterances of greatly different lengths. In contrast, our findings follow easily from an autosegmental-metrical approach to intonational phonology, according to which melodies may contain long F0 stretches derived by interpolation between specified targets associated with metrically strong syllables and prosodic boundaries.
Listeners' knowledge of phonological universals: evidence from nasal clusters
Authors: Berent Iris , Lennertz Tracy , Smolensky Paul , Vaknin-Nusbaum Vered 
Published: June 2009

AbstractOptimality Theory explains typological markedness implications by proposing that all speakers possess universal constraints penalising marked structures, irrespective of the evidence provided by their language (Prince & Smolensky 2004). The account of phonological perception sketched here entails that markedness constraints reveal their presence by inducing perceptual ‘repairs’ to structures ungrammatical in the hearer's language. As onset clusters of falling sonority are typologically marked relative to those of rising sonority (Greenberg 1978), we examine English speakers' perception of nasal-initial clusters, which are lacking in English. We find greater accuracy for rising-sonority clusters, evidencing knowledge of markedness constraints favouring such onset clusters. The misperception of sonority falls cannot be accounted for by stimulus artefacts (the materials are perceived accurately by speakers of Russian, a language allowing nasal-initial clusters) nor by phonetic failure (English speakers misperceive falls even with printed materials) nor by putative relations of such onsets to the statistics of the English lexicon.
Linking speech errors and phonological grammars: insights from Harmonic Grammar networks
Authors: Goldrick Matthew , Daland Robert 
Published: June 2009

AbstractPhonological grammars characterise distinctions between relatively well-formed (unmarked) and relatively ill-formed (marked) phonological structures. We review evidence that markedness influences speech-error probabilities. Specifically, although errors result in unmarked as well as marked structures, there is a markedness asymmetry: errors are more likely to produce unmarked outcomes. We show that stochastic disruption to the computational mechanisms realising a Harmonic Grammar (HG) can account for the broad empirical patterns of speech errors. We demonstrate that our proposal can account for the general markedness asymmetry. We also develop methods for linking particular HG proposals to speech-error distributions, and illustrate these methods using a simple HG and a set of initial consonant errors in English.