bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Descriptive analysis of emergency department oxygen use in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Authors: Considine J. , Botti M. , Thomas S. 
Published: March 2010

AbstractBackground: Inconsistencies in oxygen therapy recommendations in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may result in variability in emergency department (ED) oxygen management of patients with COPD. The aim of this study was to describe oxygen management in the first 4 h of ED care for patients with exacerbation of COPD.Methods: A retrospective medical record audit was conducted at four public and one private ED in Melbourne, Australia. Participants were 273 adult ED patients with COPD presenting with a primary complaint of shortness of breath from July 2006 to July 2007. Outcome measures were physiological data, including oxygen saturation (SpO2), oxygen delivery devices and flow rates on ED arrival, 1 and 4 h.Results: Oxygen was used in 82.0% of patients. Patients who required oxygen had higher incidence of ambulance transport (P < 0.001), triage category 2 (P= 0.006), home oxygen use (P < 0.001), and increased work of breathing on ED arrival (P < 0.001), and higher median respiratory rate (P < 0.001) and heart rate (P= 0.001). SpO2 > 90% occurred in the majority of patients (87.5%; 96.4%; 95.6%); however, a considerable number of patients with SpO2 < 90% were not given oxygen (61.8%; 30%; 45.5%).Conclusions: A number of patients with documented hypoxaemia were not given oxygen and there may be variables other than oxygen saturation that may influence oxygen use. Future research should focus on increasing the evidence‐based supporting oxygen use and better understanding of clinicians' oxygen decision‐making in patients with COPD.
Herbivory enhances positive effects of plant genotypic diversity
Authors: Parker John D. , Salminen Juha‐Pekka , Agrawal Anurag A. 
Published: March 2010

Ecology Letters (2010) 13: 553–563AbstractBoth plant diversity and vertebrate herbivores can impact plant fitness and ecosystem functioning, however their interactions have not been explicitly tested. We manipulated plant genotypic diversity of the native plant Oenothera biennis and monitored its survivorship and lifetime fitness with and without one of its major vertebrate consumers, white‐tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus. Intense but unmanipulated herbivory by meadow voles Microtus pennsylvanicus killed over 70% of nearly 4000 experimental plants. However, plants grown in genotypically diverse patches suffered fewer vole attacks and had higher survival and reproductive output than plants in monoculture. Moreover, positive effects of genotypic diversity were enhanced by the presence of deer, indicating a non‐additive interaction between diversity and trophic‐level complexity. Genetic selection analyses showed that the selective value of ecologically important traits depended on plant diversity and exposure to deer, demonstrating that community complexity can promote fitness through multiple ecologically and evolutionarily important feedbacks.
Sex‐dependent selection on an autosomal melanic female ornament promotes the evolution of sex ratio bias
Authors: Roulin Alexandre , Altwegg Res , Jensen Henrik , Steinsland Ingelin , Schaub Michael 
Published: March 2010

Ecology Letters (2010) 13: 616–626AbstractSex‐dependent selection often leads to spectacularly different phenotypes in males and females. In species in which sexual dimorphism is not complete, it is unclear which benefits females and males derive from displaying a trait that is typical of the other sex. In barn owls (Tyto alba), females exhibit on average larger black eumelanic spots than males but members of the two sexes display this trait in the same range of possible values. In a 12‐year study, we show that selection exerted on spot size directly or on genetically correlated traits strongly favoured females with large spots and weakly favoured males with small spots. Intense directional selection on females caused an increase in spot diameter in the population over the study period. This increase is due to a change in the autosomal genes underlying the expression of eumelanic spots but not of sex‐linked genes. Female‐like males produced more daughters than sons, while male‐like females produced more sons than daughters when mated to a small‐spotted male. These sex ratio biases appear adaptive because sons of male‐like females and daughters of female‐like males had above‐average survival. This demonstrates that selection exerted against individuals displaying a trait that is typical of the other sex promoted the evolution of specific life history strategies that enhance their fitness. This may explain why in many organisms sexual dimorphism is often not complete.
Varieties of National Metonymy in Media Accounts of International Mergers and Acquisitions
Authors: Riad Sally , Vaara Eero 
Published: March 2010

abstractInternational mergers and acquisitions (M&As) often invoke national identification and national cultural differences. We argue that metonymy is a central linguistic resource through which national cultural identities and differences are reproduced in media accounts of international M&As. In this paper, we focus on two revealing cases: the acquisition of American IBM Personal Computer Division (PCD) by the Chinese company Lenovo and the acquisition of American Anheuser‐Busch (A‐B) by the Belgian–Brazilian company InBev. First, we identify the forms, functions, and frequencies of national metonymy in media accounts of these cases. We present a typology that classifies varieties of national metonymy in international M&As. Second, we demonstrate how these metonyms combine with metaphor to generate evocative imagery, engaging wit, and subversive irony. Our findings show that national metonymy contributes to the construction of emotive frames, stereotypes, ideological differences, and threats. Combinations of national metonymy with metaphor also provide powerful means to construct cultural differences. However, combinations of metonymy with wit and irony enable the play on meanings that overturns and resists national and cultural stereotypes. This is the first study to unpack the deployment of metonymy in accounts of international M&As. In doing so, it also opens up new avenues for research into international management and the analysis of tropes in management and organization.
STRATEGIC EXPORT POLICY IN VERTICALLY RELATED MARKETS
Authors: Kawabata Yasushi 
Published: March 2010

ABSTRACTThis paper analyses how strategic export policies are affected by introducing an imperfectly competitive intermediate good into a Bertrand duopoly model with product differentiation, where a home and a foreign final‐good firm export to a third‐country market. It is shown that when the home and foreign markets for the intermediate good are segmented, the optimal export policy towards the final good is a tax. In contrast, under integrated markets, the optimal export intervention is a subsidy. Whether bilateral export intervention is welfare improving compared with free trade, depends on the degree of product differentiation between the home and foreign final goods.
COOPERATIVE MANAGERIAL DELEGATION, R&D AND COLLUSION
Authors: Pal Rupayan 
Published: March 2010

ABSTRACTExisting literature on managerial delegation indicates that collusive outcomes can be obtained in an oligopoly game through cooperative managerial delegation. In contrast, this paper shows that, if managers are delegated to choose R&D, in addition to choosing production levels, full‐collusive outcomes cannot be achieved through cooperative delegation. Moreover, (i) under cooperative delegation, semi‐collusion always yields lower profit, higher R&D, higher price and lower social welfare than that in the case of competition and (ii) cooperative delegation leads to a higher profit lower R&D, higher price and lower social welfare than the no delegation case, irrespective of product market conduct.
FIRM SIZE AND PRICING POLICY
Authors: Chowdhury Prabal Roy 
Published: March 2010

ABSTRACTWe relate pricing policy of firms to their size, where firm size is interpreted as the size of the clientele served by the concerned firm. We argue that a firm with a large clientele faces a more severe reputational backlash if it ‘reneges’, i.e., deviates from its earlier price offer. This allows the firm to effectively commit to its offers, leading to a unique equilibrium without delay. Interestingly, this equilibrium corresponds to the equilibrium of the related model that does not allow for reneging possibilities. For smaller firms, however, the reputational effects are much less intense, and consequently the equilibria may involve deviation possibilities. In this case, the equilibria are non‐unique and may involve delays as well.
NOMINAL WAGE INDEXATION, QUASI‐EQUILIBRIA AND REAL WAGE DYNAMICS
Authors: Guerrazzi Marco 
Published: March 2010

ABSTRACTIn contrast to the traditional static approach to indexation, this paper analyses the dynamic consequences for real wages of the mechanism that links nominal wages to inflation. Revisiting a contribution by Dehez and Fitoussi on macroeconomic fluctuations, I analyse a monetary overlapping generations small open economy in which full indexation is interpreted as the occurrence of a dynamic ‘quasi‐equilibrium’. In the suggested framework, the nominal wage is linked to the inflation rate by a specific indexation formula whose shape relies on unions' bargaining positions. Assuming a constant peg for the real interest rate and the superneutrality of money, I show that the economy has a unique long‐run quasi‐equilibrium allocation whose stability depends only on the behaviour of the monetary authority. Moreover, I show how the operating of a ‘wage‐aspiration effect’ might lead to the persistence of involuntary unemployment.
Two modes of mitochondrial dysfunction lead independently to lifespan extension in Caenorhabditis elegans
Authors: Yang Wen , Hekimi Siegfried 
Published: March 2010

SummaryIn Caenorhabditis elegans, longevity is increased by a partial loss‐of‐function mutation in the mitochondrial complex III subunit gene isp‐1. Longevity is also increased by RNAi against the expression of a variety of mitochondrial respiratory chain genes, including isp‐1, but it is unknown whether the isp‐1(qm150) mutation and the RNAi treatments trigger the same underlying mechanisms of longevity. We have identified nuo‐6(qm200), a mutation in a conserved subunit of mitochondrial complex I (NUDFB4). The mutation reduces the function of complex I and, like isp‐1(qm150), results in low oxygen consumption, slow growth, slow behavior, and increased lifespan. We have compared the phenotypes of nuo‐6(qm200) to those of nuo‐6(RNAi) and found them to be distinct in crucial ways, including patterns of growth and fertility, behavioral rates, oxygen consumption, ATP levels, autophagy, and resistance to paraquat, as well as expression of superoxide dismutases, mitochondrial heat‐shock proteins, and other gene expression markers. RNAi treatments appear to generate a stress and autophagy response, while the genomic mutation alters electron transport and reactive oxygen species metabolism. For many phenotypes, we also compared isp‐1(qm150) to isp‐1(RNAi) and found the same pattern of differences. Most importantly, we found that, while the lifespan of nuo‐6, isp‐1 double mutants is not greater than that of the single mutants, the lifespan increase induced by nuo‐6(RNAi) is fully additive to that induced by isp‐1(qm150), and the increase induced by isp‐1(RNAi) is fully additive to that induced by nuo‐6(qm200). Our results demonstrate that distinct and separable aspects of mitochondrial biology affect lifespan independently.
THE ECONOMIC GAINS OF TRADING STOCKS AROUND HOLIDAYS
Authors: Tsiakas Ilias 
Published: March 2010

AbstractI assess the economic gains of strategies that account for the effect of holiday calendar effects on the daily returns and volatility of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average index. The dynamic strategies use forecasts from stochastic volatility models that distinguish between regular trading days and different types of holidays. More important, I assess the economic value of conditioning on holiday effects and find that a risk‐averse investor will pay a high performance fee to switch from a dynamic portfolio strategy that does not account for the effect of holidays on daily conditional expected returns and volatility to a strategy that does. This result is robust to reasonable transaction costs.
DYNAMIC ORDER SUBMISSION AND HERDING BEHAVIOR IN ELECTRONIC TRADING
Authors: Ng Wing Lon 
Published: March 2010

AbstractI analyze the dynamic trading behavior of market participants by developing a bivariate modeling framework for describing the arrival process of buy and sell orders in a limit order book. The model contains an extended autoregressive conditional duration model with a flexible generalized Beta distribution to explain the duration process, combined with a dynamic logit model to capture the traders’ order submission strategy. I find that the state of the order book as well as the speed of the order arrival have a significant influence on the order placement, inducing temporal asymmetric market movements.
OPTIMAL PORTFOLIO SELECTION WITH A SHORTFALL PROBABILITY CONSTRAINT: EVIDENCE FROM ALTERNATIVE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS
Authors: Akcay Yalcin , Yalcin Atakan 
Published: March 2010

AbstractWe propose a new approach to optimal portfolio selection in a downside risk framework that allocates assets by maximizing expected return subject to a shortfall probability constraint, reflecting the typical desire of a risk‐averse investor to limit the maximum likely loss. Our empirical results indicate that the loss‐averse portfolio outperforms the widely used mean‐variance approach based on the cumulative cash values, geometric mean returns, and average risk‐adjusted returns. We also evaluate the relative performance of the loss‐averse portfolio with normal, symmetric thin‐tailed, symmetric fat‐tailed, and skewed fat‐tailed return distributions in terms of average return, risk, and average risk‐adjusted return.
SWITCHING TO A TEMPORARY CALL AUCTION IN TIMES OF HIGH UNCERTAINTY
Authors: Abad David , Pascual Roberto 
Published: March 2010

AbstractWe evaluate a stock‐specific circuit breaker implemented in several European stock exchanges, which consists of a short‐lived call auction triggered by intraday stock‐specific price limits. It differs from U.S. trading halts in that it is short‐lived and nondiscretionary, and a trading mechanism (continuous or discrete) is always going. It differs from daily price limits in that trade prices are not restricted once the limit is hit. Intraday price ranges are smaller and adjusted to the recent volatility, so that limit hits are more frequent. We contribute to the debate about circuit breakers by enlarging the span of these mechanisms studied.
Expression and functional role of adenosine receptors in regulating inflammatory responses in human synoviocytes
Authors: Varani K , Vincenzi F , Tosi A , Targa M , Masieri FF , Ongaro A , De Mattei M , Massari L , Borea PA 
Published: March 2010

Background and purpose: Adenosine is an endogenous modulator, interacting with four G‐protein coupled receptors (A1, A2A, A2Band A3) and acts as a potent inhibitor of inflammatory processes in several tissues. So far, the functional effects modulated by adenosine receptors on human synoviocytes have not been investigated in detail. We evaluated mRNA, the protein levels, the functional role of adenosine receptors and their pharmacological modulation in human synoviocytes.Experimental approach: mRNA, Western blotting, saturation and competition binding experiments, cyclic AMP, p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and nuclear factor (NF)‐κB activation, tumour necrosis factor α (TNF‐α) and interleukin‐8 (IL‐8) release were assessed in human synoviocytes isolated from patients with osteoarthritis.Key results: mRNA and protein for A1, A2A, A2Band A3adenosine receptors are expressed in human synoviocytes. Standard adenosine agonists and antagonists showed affinity values in the nanomolar range and were coupled to stimulation or inhibition of adenylyl cyclase. Activation of A2Aand A3adenosine receptors inhibited p38 MAPK and NF‐κB pathways, an effect abolished by selective adenosine antagonists. A2Aand A3receptor agonists decreased TNF‐α and IL‐8 production. The phosphoinositide 3‐kinase or Gspathways were involved in the functional responses of A3or A2Aadenosine receptors. Synoviocyte A1and A2Badenosine receptors were not implicated in the inflammatory process whereas stimulation of A2Aand A3adenosine receptors was closely associated with a down‐regulation of the inflammatory status.Conclusions and implications: These results indicate that A2Aand A3adenosine receptors may represent a potential target in therapeutic modulation of joint inflammation.
Spironolactone and hydrochlorothiazide exert antioxidant effects and reduce vascular matrix metalloproteinase‐2 activity and expression in a model of renovascular hypertension
Authors: Ceron CS , Castro MM , Rizzi E , Montenegro MF , Fontana V , Salgado MCO , Gerlach RF , Tanus‐Santos JE 
Published: March 2010

Background and purpose: Increased oxidative stress and up‐regulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) may cause structural and functional vascular changes in renovascular hypertension. We examined whether treatment with spironolactone (SPRL), hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) or both drugs together modified hypertension‐induced changes in arterial blood pressure, aortic remodelling, vascular reactivity, oxidative stress and MMP levels and activity, in a model of renovascular hypertension.Experimental approach: We used the two‐kidney,one‐clip (2K1C) model of hypertension in Wistar rats. Sham‐operated or hypertensive rats were treated with vehicle, SPRL (25 mg·kg−1·day−1), HCTZ (20 mg·kg−1·day−1) or a combination for 8 weeks. Systolic blood pressure was monitored weekly. Aortic rings were isolated to assess endothelium‐dependent and ‐independent relaxations. Morphometry of the vascular wall was carried out in sections of aorta. Aortic NADPH oxidase activity and superoxide production were evaluated. Formation of reactive oxygen species was measured in plasma as thiobarbituric acid‐reactive substances. Aortic MMP‐2 levels and activity were determined by gelatin andin situzymography, fluorimetry and immunohistochemistry.Key results: Treatment with SPRL, HCTZ or the combination attenuated 2K1C‐induced hypertension, and reversed the endothelial dysfunction in 2K1C rats. Both drugs or the combination reversed vascular aortic remodelling induced by hypertension, attenuated hypertension‐induced increases in oxidative stress and reduced MMP‐2 levels and activity.Conclusions and implications: SPRL or HCTZ, alone or combined, exerted antioxidant effects, and decreased renovascular hypertension‐induced MMP‐2 up‐regulation, thus improving the vascular dysfunction and remodelling found in this model of hypertension.
Caspase‐3 knock‐down reverses contractile dysfunction induced by sepsis in adult rat ventricular myocytes
Authors: Chopra Mani , Das Padmalaya , Sharma Avadhesh C 
Published: March 2010

Background and purpose:  The present study tested the hypothesis that selective caspase‐3 (C‐3) knock‐out would regulate the contractile actions of noradrenaline (NA) in the dysfunction of adult rat ventricular myocytes (ARVMs) induced by sepsis. Here, we have studied the contractile response of ARVMs, transfected with C‐3 small interfering RNA (C‐3 siRNA), to NA.Experimental approach:  Single ARVMs were isolated from the hearts of male Sprague‐Dawley rats 3 days after induction of sepsis, and from sham‐treated rats. The sham and septic ARVMs were treated with NA (10 µM) alone or after transfection with C‐3 siRNA or non‐silencing RNA (2 µM). Mechanical properties were measured digitally, and immunoblotting and immunocytochemical analyses were carried out.Key results:  The NA‐induced increase in peak shortening (PS) was less in septic ARVMs and transfection with C‐3 siRNA produced a significant increase in this PS. Immunocytochemical and immunoblot analyses revealed that NA exacerbated sepsis‐induced up‐regulation of C‐3. Transfection of septic ARVMs with C‐3 siRNA exhibited a decreased expression of C‐3 fluorescence after NA. In septic ARVMs, we also observed a down‐regulation of contractile proteins (α‐actin, myosin light chain‐1 and tropomyosin) along with DNA damage. Transfection of septic ARVMs with C‐3 siRNA produced an increase in the expression of contractile proteins, and a decrease in DNA damage.Conclusions and implications:  These data suggest that C‐3 knock‐down improved the loss of contractile response to NA in septic ARVMs, suggesting that C‐3 regulated contractile dysfunction induced by sepsis in ARVMs.
Bisphenol A activates Maxi‐K (KCa1.1) channels in coronary smooth muscle
Authors: Asano Shinichi , Tune Johnathan D , Dick Gregory M 
Published: March 2010

Background and purpose:  Bisphenol A (BPA) is used to manufacture plastics, including containers for food into which it may leach. High levels of exposure to this oestrogenic endocrine disruptor are associated with diabetes and heart disease. Oestrogen and oestrogen receptor modulators increase the activity of large conductance Ca2+/voltage‐sensitive K+ (Maxi‐K; KCa1.1) channels, but the effects of BPA on Maxi‐K channels are unknown. We tested the hypothesis that BPA activates Maxi‐K channels through a mechanism that depends upon the regulatory β1 subunit.Experimental approach:  Patch‐clamp recordings of Maxi‐K channels were made in human and canine coronary smooth muscle cells as well as in AD‐293 cells expressing pore‐forming α or α plus β1 subunits.Key results:  BPA (10 µM) activated an outward current in smooth muscle cells that was inhibited by penitrem A (1 µM), a Maxi‐K blocker. BPA increased Maxi‐K activity in inside‐out patches from coronary smooth muscle, but had no effect on single channel conductance. In AD‐293 cells with Maxi‐K channels composed of α subunits alone, 10 µM BPA did not affect channel activity. When channels in AD‐293 cells contained β1 subunits, 10 µM BPA increased channel activity. Effects of BPA were rapid (<1 min) and reversible. A higher concentration of BPA (100 µM) increased Maxi‐K current independent of the β1 subunit.Conclusions and implications:  Our data indicate that BPA increased the activity of Maxi‐K channels and may represent a basis for some potential toxicological effects.