bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of cholesterol, cholic acid and cholestyramine administration on the intestinal mRNA expressions related to cholesterol and bile acid metabolism in the rat
Authors: Kamisako Toshinori , Ogawa Hiroshi , Yamamoto Kazuo 
Published: May 2007

AbstractBackground and Aim: To evaluate the importance of cholesterol and bile acid concentrations in the intestinal lumen to cholesterol homeostasis, we investigated the effect of cholesterol‐, bile salt‐ or cholestyramine‐administration on the regulation of intestinal mRNA related to cholesterol and bile acid metabolism.Methods: Male Wistar rats fed on standard laboratory chow (AIN‐93) were allocated into four experimental groups: (i) control group; (ii) cholesterol group (CH), which was fed cholesterol in diet (2% [w/w]) for 14 days; (iii) cholic acid (CA) group, which was fed CA in diet (1% [w/w]) for 14 days; (iv) cholestyramine (CT) group, which was fed CT in diet (5% [w/w]) for 14 days. Blood, liver and small intestine were obtained after 14 days. Serum lipids and bile acids were measured by colorimetric assays, and hepatic and intestinal mRNA relating to lipid and bile acid metabolism was studied by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction.Results: Intestinal ABCG8, liver X receptor α, small heterodimer partner (SHP) and sterol regulatory element binding protein 1c (SREBP‐1c) mRNA expressions were markedly increased in the CH group. Intestinal multidrug resistance associated protein (MRP) 2 and MRP3 mRNA expressions were markedly increased in the CA group. In the CT group intestinal MRP2, ABCG5, ABCG8, SHP and SREBP‐1c mRNA expressions were markedly decreased.Conclusion: The bile acid availability in the intestinal lumen alters the expression of various intestinal mRNA relating to not only bile acid metabolism, but also lipid metabolism. Though the mechanism of the intestinal SHP elevation is unclear, cholesterol feeding may affect the intestinal bile acid metabolism via intestinal SHP expression.
The effects of immigration and environmental variability on the persistence of an inferior competitor
Authors: Long Zachary T. , Petchey Owen L. , Holt Robert D. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractWe tested the hypothesis that temporally autocorrelated variation should increase the abundance of an inferior competitor sustained by immigration. Temporally autocorrelated variability can increase abundance of the inferior species through effects on demography, the strength of competition, and the mean and variance in the abundance of competing species. We allowed the competitive inferior to immigrate into habitats with constant, variable, or temporally autocorrelated temperature regimes. In the absence of immigration, competitive exclusion occurred, in both constant and variable environments. Immigration permitted persistence of the inferior species, and increased immigration rates led to increased abundance. Temporally autocorrelated variability enhanced this effect of immigration. This ‘inflationary’ effect suggests that the interplay of immigration and environmental variability can jointly influence the outcome of competitive interactions. Our results suggest that an increase in temporal autocorrelation of environmental variability will cause regional processes to increasingly influence local interactions.
Global negative vegetation feedback to climate warming responses of leaf litter decomposition rates in cold biomes
Authors: Cornelissen Johannes H.C. , Van Bodegom Peter M. , Aerts Rien , Callaghan Terry V. , Van Logtestijn Richard S.P. , Alatalo Juha , Stuart Chapin F. , Gerdol Renato , Gudmundsson Jon , Gwynn‐Jones Dylan , Hartley Anne E. , Hik David S. , Hofgaard Annika , Jónsdóttir Ingibjörg S. , Karlsson Staffan , Klein Julia A. , Laundre Jim , Magnusson Borgthor , Michelsen Anders , Molau Ulf , Onipchenko Vladimir G. , Quested Helen M. , Sandvik Sylvi M. , Schmidt Inger K. , Shaver Gus R. , Solheim Bjørn , Soudzilovskaia Nadejda A. , Stenström Anna , Tolvanen Anne , Totland Ørjan , Wada Naoya , Welker Jeffrey M. , Zhao Xinquan ,   M.O.L. Team
Published: May 2007

AbstractWhether climate change will turn cold biomes from large long‐term carbon sinks into sources is hotly debated because of the great potential for ecosystem‐mediated feedbacks to global climate. Critical are the direction, magnitude and generality of climate responses of plant litter decomposition. Here, we present the first quantitative analysis of the major climate‐change‐related drivers of litter decomposition rates in cold northern biomes worldwide. Leaf litters collected from the predominant species in 33 global change manipulation experiments in circum‐arctic‐alpine ecosystems were incubated simultaneously in two contrasting arctic life zones. We demonstrate that longer‐term, large‐scale changes to leaf litter decomposition will be driven primarily by both direct warming effects and concomitant shifts in plant growth form composition, with a much smaller role for changes in litter quality within species. Specifically, the ongoing warming‐induced expansion of shrubs with recalcitrant leaf litter across cold biomes would constitute a negative feedback to global warming. Depending on the strength of other (previously reported) positive feedbacks of shrub expansion on soil carbon turnover, this may partly counteract direct warming enhancement of litter decomposition.
Diversity, relative abundance and metabolic potential of bacterial endosymbionts in three Bathymodiolus mussel species from cold seeps in the Gulf of Mexico
Authors: Duperron Sébastien , Sibuet Myriam , MacGregor Barbara J. , Kuypers Marcel M. M. , Fisher Chuck R. , Dubilier Nicole 
Published: May 2007

SummaryCold seeps in the Gulf of Mexico are often dominated by mussels of the genus Bathymodiolus that harbour symbiotic bacteria in their gills. In this study, we analysed symbiont diversity, abundance and metabolic potential in three mussel species from the northern Gulf of Mexico: Bathymodiolus heckerae from the West Florida Escarpment, Bathymodiolus brooksi from Atwater Valley and Alaminos Canyon, and ‘Bathymodiolus’ childressi, which co‐occurs with B. brooksi in Alaminos Canyon. Comparative 16S rRNA sequence analysis confirmed a single methanotroph‐related symbiont in ‘B.’ childressi and a dual symbiosis with a methanotroph‐ and thiotroph‐related symbiont in B. brooksi. A previously unknown diversity of four co‐occurring symbionts was discovered in B. heckerae: a methanotroph, two phylogenetically distinct thiotrophs and a methylotroph‐related phylotype not previously described from any marine invertebrate symbiosis. A gene characteristic of methane‐oxidzing bacteria, pmoA, was identified in all three mussel species confirming the methanotrophic potential of their symbionts. Stable isotope analyses of lipids and whole tissue also confirmed the importance of methanotrophy in the carbon nutrition of all of the mussels. Analyses of absolute and relative symbiont abundance in B. heckerae and B. brooksi using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and rRNA slot blot hybridization indicated a clear dominance of methanotrophic over thiotrophic symbionts in their gill tissues. A site‐dependent variability in total symbiont abundance was observed in B. brooksi, with specimens from Alaminos Canyon harbouring much lower densities than those from Atwater Valley. This shows that symbiont abundance is not species‐specific but can vary considerably between populations.
Urethral pressure reflectometry vs urethral pressure profilometry in women: a comparative study of reproducibility and accuracy
Authors: Klarskov Niels , Lose Gunnar 
Published: May 2007

OBJECTIVETo compare urethral pressure reflectometry (UPR), a new and simple technique for simultaneous measurements of cross‐sectional area (CA) and pressure in the female urethra, with urethral pressure profilometry (UPP).PATIENTS, SUBJECTS AND METHODSThe study included 143 women (105 patients and 38 healthy volunteers); the UPR was measured using a very thin polyurethane bag in the urethra; a pump applied pre‐selected pressures stepwise to the bag and for each step the CA was measured by acoustic reflectometry. Measurements were made during both inflation and deflation. The women were examined supine both while relaxed and during ‘squeeze’, and while upright and relaxed. The following variables were measured; the opening and closing pressure, the opening and closing elastance and the hysteresis. For UPP we used the perfusion technique with the patient supine and relaxed. All the women were assessed twice with both UPR and UPP at the same setting (short‐term reproducibility) and 17 patients were assessed with both methods on two different days (long‐term reproducibility).RESULTSThe mean pressures were 51.7 and 52.9 cmH2O for the UPR and UPP, respectively (not significant) at a CA of 5.1 mm2; the limit of agreement between the methods was −19.4 to +17.0 cmH2O (mean and 2 sd). The Pearson coefficient was − 0.16 (not significant). The variability (2 sd) of two consecutive measurements was significantly less with UPR (9.5 cmH2O) than UPP (13.8 cmH2O; P < 0.001). For the opening and closing pressures the coefficient of variation (CV) was 5.9–11.6%; for the elastances the CV was 14.3–31.2% and for the hysteresis the CV was 12.9–49.1%. In test‐retest measurements, the variability of the UPR values (2 sd, 8.7 cmH2O) was significantly less than for UPP (15.4 cmH2O; P < 0.05). The discomfort of UPR was statistically less than for UPP or than a standard gynaecological examination.CONCLUSIONCompared at the same CA, UPR measured the same pressure as UPP but the UPR was more reproducible. With the patient relaxed the opening and closing pressure, opening and closing elastance and the hysteresis can be measured while supine and upright; while squeezing, the opening pressure and elastance can be measured.
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM A THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT?
Authors: Leibenstein Harvey 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYPrediction as a rejection test for theories is limited and unnecessarily severe. Useful knowledge frequently does not fall into this mold. Also the prediction test does not follow from the view that science provides coherent explanations of experience. The inapplicability of prediction as a sharp test is especially likely to be true for macro‐economic development theories. Thus it may not be meaningful to say that a given theory is correct or incorrect in a strict sense. Where the phe‐nomena that a theory covers is inseparable from a large system in which it is imbedded then it may be impossible in principle to discover the true relations between variables. Although no single simple test may exist for a class of theories there may be a number of considerations that help us judge the adequacy of some theories.Development theories may be looked upon as sets of partially connected sample relations that operate within a changing environment. Such relations should be credible. Sample relations based on hypotheses that constantly flout experience are likely to be poor samples. Thus the realism of assumptions matter. Theories of the type considered may be useful in that the sample relations are helpful in the discovery of specific relations in specific contexts that we hope will work frequently in a loose fitting servo‐mechanistic type of arrangement so that (1) diagnoses of existing difficulties can be made, and (2) corrective policies fashioned which, while they cannot be expected to work universally, do work sufficiently frequently in terms of directional changes to be of interest.
ECONOMIC POLICIES IN A DEMOCRACY
Authors: Bernholz Peter 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYAssumptions concerning the political behaviour of voters and politicians have first been made by A. Downs. Using these assumptions and considering several structural characteristics of democracy, the author of this paper attempts to develop some tendencies of economic policy. Since these tendencies are not only subject to the political but also to the economic situation of the country in question, additional assumptions upon the structure of economy have to be made. The present paper deals with a growing economy; it is assumed to work on a high level of diversification and consumption. Some sectors expand however only slowly, others even decline. Given these assumptions, the governmental economic policy will favour I. sectors with low rates of growth, and 2. sectors with low capital/ employment ratios. There exist, however, priorities about the measures to be taken: Import restriction is preferred to export promotion, export promotion to a policy of public buying and storing; even less estimated are public subsidies (provided costs of storing can be neglected and/or elasticities of demand and supply are low). The paper finally shows, how the tendencies of economic policy vary by changing political and economic structures of democracy.
EXPORT INSTABILITY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH*
Authors: Kenen Peter B. , Voivodas Constantine S. 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYDoes export instability interfere with economic development? Work by McBean answers in the negative. He finds no systematic relationship between instability and economic growth. This paper asks three questions about McBean's work: (1) Has he measured the relevant variables appropriately? (2) Were special factors at work in the period he studied (1950‐58) ? (3) Was his sample of countries representative? It presents a broader statistical analysis, using a different index of instability, two decades of data, and more countries. In general, the findings do not contradict McBean. But calculations using different time periods (1950‐66 and 1956‐67) do produce some evidence of interference. Furthermore, the paper finds one new relationship—a strong inverse connection between instability and the level of investment in developing countries.
ECONOMIC GROWTH AND SOCIAL WELFARE: THE NEED FOR A COMPLETE STUDY OF HAPPINESS
Authors: Ng* Yew‐Kwang 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYDoes economic growth increase social welfare (happiness)? Answers to such questions can only be provided by a complete analysis of all the objective, subjective, and institutional effects. All measures originate from the subjective world, working through the institutional setting to affect the objective world, the institutional setting and/or the subjective world. Due to the increasing complexity of the modern society, it is likely that more problems are going to involve significant institutional and subjective effects, making a complete multidisciplinary study more necessary. As an introduction to this argument, the Harrod‐Hirsch concept of positional goods and its implications on the desirability of economic growth are analysed geometrically and extended. A simple method to reduce the difficulty of comparability in happiness surveys is also suggested.
ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF PROTECTION AGAINST MARKET DISRUPTION
Authors: Murray, Tracy , Schmidt Wilson , Walter* Ingo 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYVoluntary export restraints (VRSs) and orderly marketing arrangements (OMAs) are increasingly important relative to explicit trade restrictions such as tariffs and quotas. Unlike the latter, which are applied by the importing countries, VERs and OMAs as protectionist techniques are implemented under duress by the exporting nations themselves. They are part of a growing ‘rifle approach’ to protection designed to curb imports specifically from ‘disruptive’ supplier countries. Textiles, footwear, consumer electronics and steel are some of the product groups affected in recent years, with Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Brazil, Taiwan and Singapore among the main victims. In 1976 an estimated $ 9.4 billion of international trade was covered by such restrictions, or about 16% of OECD imports in the affected product categories. It is often alleged that such ‘voluntary’ controls are less trade‐restrictive than outright quotas imposed on imports. This paper shows that, in the event that export licences are themselves tradeable and subject to monopolization ‐ which is often the case – precisely the opposite will tend to be the case. Even greater restrictiveness may occur when multiple products are covered by a single OMA or VER.
TOWARDS FULL EMPLOYMENT AND PRICE STABILITY: A REVIEW OF THE OECD REPORT
Authors: Cornwall* John 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYThe article reviews a recent OECD attempt to explain the causes of the acceleration of inflation from the mid‐1960's to the early 1970's and the impact of government policy responses i.e., stagflation. The report is optimistic about the future growth, employment and inflation performance of the OECD economies. This optimum is criticised for several reasons. While most of the factors as causes of the acceleration in inflation are non‐economic, the chief policy measures advocated for a return to ‘normally’ are economic, i.e., demand management. No evidence is offered that the (largely) non‐economic structural changes that contributed to the acceleration of inflation have disappeared and are therefore unlikely to reassert themselves if and when governments decide to push for full employment. The future is just as likely to be one of continued stagflation or a permanent incomes policy as it is a return to pre‐1970 conditions.
CYCLICAL FLUCTUATIONS IN THE SHARE OF CORPORATE PROFITS IN NATIONAL INCOME
Authors: Brown Scott B. 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYThis paper investigates some of the determinants of the decline in corporate profits as a share of national income in six industrial countries. First, it presents evidence that much of the decline in the profits share has resulted from changes in the distribution of gross profits among dividends, interest, and retained earnings, apparently due to rising corporate debt/equity ratios. Second, the paper examines the cyclical behavior of the gross profits share. Estimates of the normal cyclical behavior of profits shares suggest that much of the recent decline in profits shares is a normal response to weak economic activity. Finally, the techniques used to estimate cyclically normal profits shares suggest that in most of these countries the profits share has been below its full‐employment level during the 1970's.
STANDARDS UND STEUERN ALS INSTRUMENTE GEGEN DIE VERSCHMUTZUNG DER UMWELT
Authors: Osterkamp Rigmar 
Published: May 2007

ZUSAMMENFASSUNGIn der Literatur zur Umweltökonomie werden zahlreiche Unterschiede zwischen den beiden Instrumenten Standards and Steuern behauptet; so etwa bezüglich der statischen and dynamischen Eflizienz, der Überwachungskosten, der Sicherheit der Reaktion auf ein eingesetztes umweltpolitisches Instrument usw. Einigedieser Unterschiede werden hier kritisch analysiert. Das Ergebnis ist, dass häufig (ausser im Fall der bekannten statischen allokativen Ineffizienz von Standards) unzulässige Vergleiche angestellt werden and die Unterschiede bei korrekter Analyse verschwinden. Aberes wird auch eine Situation beschrieben, in der sich Standards and Steuern tatsächlich voneinander unterscheiden and in der die Wahl des richtigen Instruments wichtig ist.
Rent Seeking in India: Its Costs and Policy Significance
Authors: Mohammad Sharif , Whalley John 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYIn this paper we assess the resource cost of rent seeking activity in India, taking into account controls over foreign trade, capital markets, goods and labour markets. Using the approximation that the value of rents equals the welfare cost of rent seeking, gives a range from 30‐45 percent of GNP using data for 1980‐81. Some of the wider implications for the measurement of the welfare costs of distortions are discussed. The main development policy issues raised by the calculations are also outlined.
Economic Integration and Intra‐Industry Trade: The EEC and CMEA Compared
Authors: Drabek Zdenek , Greenaway David 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYThis paper examines the causal links between intra‐industry trade and economic integration, and considers whether these can be expected to differ systematically between customs unions involving developed market economies and those involving centrally planned economies. Intra‐industry trade is measured for members of the E. E. C. and compared with indices for various members of CMEA (as well as several non‐E. E. C. European countries). It is found that average levels of intra‐industry trade are indeed higher for E. E. C. countries and various explantations for this finding are discussed.
Zur empirischen Evidenz ≫langer Wellen≪
Authors: Metz Rainer 
Published: May 2007

ZUSAMMENFASSUNGDie Frage der Realität ≪langer Wellen≫ in der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts ist bis heute umstritten. Nicht selten wird das Vorhandensein dieser sogenannten KONDRATIEFF‐Zyklen zwar für Wertreihen bejaht, für Produktionsreihen dagegen verneint. Mit Hilfe neuer statistischer Verfahren der Zeitreihenanalyse, die auf der Filtertheorie basieren, kann man zeigen, dass für eine gegenstandsneutrale Untersuchung dieser Frage das traditionelle Instrumentarium der Zeitreihenanalyse völlig ungeeignet ist. Das Grundproblem jeder statistischen Analyse ≪langer Wellen≫, nämlich Bestimmung und Ausschaltung des Trend als der nicht‐zyklischen Bewegungskomponente einer Zeitreihe, wird in diesem Artikel mit einem völlig neu entwickelten Filterverfahren gelöst. Die Ergebnisse zeigen sehr deutlich sowohl die fundamentale Bedingtheit von Trend und Zyklus, als auch das Vorhandensein langfristiger zyklischer Schwingungskomponenten in Produktionsreihen. Während die Ergebnisse die gängige Datierung der KONDRATIEFF‐Zyklen bis etwa 1913 annähernd bestätigen, zeigen die Zyklen in ihrem gesamten Verlauf starke Variationen in Form und Dauer und erfordern damit eine partielle Revision tradierter Vorstellungen.
Die Bedeutung des Accelerated Cost Recovery System für den internationalen Kapitalverkehr
Authors: Sinn Hans‐Werner 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYThe paper studies the impact on international capital movements of the accelerated tax depreciation scheme introduced in the U. S. A. under the REAGAN administration. It is argued on theoretical grounds that, contrary to most other potential tax reforms, this depreciation scheme calls for a substantial restructuring in the world‐wide capital stock in favor of the U. S. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the scheme may induce severe sectoral changes within national economies. Countries that do not take countervailing actions against the U. S. policy are likely to experience a rise in their labour intensive industries at the expense of losing their capital intensive industries. A tentative estimate based on stylized economic facts indicates the necessity of a capital import into the U. S. of at least 7% of the OECD capital stock, which means that even with a doubling of the 1983 U. S. current account deficit of $40 billion more than a decade would have to pass in order for the required structural changes to be accomplished.
On Expectations Formation when Future Welfare is Contemplated
Authors: RAVALLION MARTIN 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYPeople often seem to gain present satisfaction from contemplating a favourable future. This paper examines the implications of such behaviour for expectations formation. Formally, satisfaction is said to be derived from ‘contemplation’ whenever ex post utility depends on expectations independently of their bearing on ex ante actions. Contemplation is shown to be necessary and sufficient for informationally biased forecasting in a model of the intertemporal consumption decision. Thus the MUTH‐rationality of expectations requires restrictions on the (derived) preference ordering over expectations and realizations which preclude contemplation. Bias tests of surveyed expectations are given a choice‐theoretic interpretation.