Cognitive Dissonance within the Realm of Implicit Bias

According to research professors from Harvard University, one’s individual actions will affect his fundamental preferences or beliefs. This is in compliance to cognitive dissonance theory, which posits that an “individual experiences a mental discomfort after taking an action that seems to be in conflict with his or her starting attitude” (Acharya, Blackwell, & Sen, p. 2) Individuals will then choose to subconsciously change their attitudes or beliefs to “conform more closely with their actions” (Acharya et al., p. 2). In other words, from a starting attitude, one makes the decision to engage in contradictory behavior, which results in a change of the initial attitude. In accordance with this illustration, researchers from Stanford and Harvard University, assert that one’s attitudes are “often the consequence of actions” (Acharya et al., p. 2). An individual’s actions may not reflect his initial fixed preference, but one is then able to adjust his attitude to justify his behaviors. Basically, cognitive dissonance theory helps support the idea that actions can dictate beliefs

Processing of insect retrotransposons by self-cleaving ribozymes

We show that several classes of insect non-LTR retrotransposons harbor self-cleaving ribozymes of the HDV family at their 5′ termini. In Drosophila the R2 ribozymes exhibit highly differential in vivo expression and robust in vitro activity, modulated by an upstream sequence originating from the insertion site. Our data suggest a role for self-cleaving ribozymes in co-transcriptional processing of retrotransposons with implications for downstream events, including translation and retrotransposition

ORBIS as a Research Tool: Examination of the Capital Structure of the Hungarian and French Wine Industry

ORBIS is a global database and financial analysis tool offering company statements, ownership, rating and scores, news and intelligence. Global means the current coverage exceeds 165 million entities which most of them are private companies. However also listed companies, banks (over 35.000), insurance companies are included. And all that taking into consideration how different the legislations in countries are sometimes not only giving the free choice to companies when it comes to publish the reports but also forbids to do so (some Islamic jurisdictions). Goal of the paper is to demonstrate the usage of ORBIS in the examination of the capital structure of the Hungarian and French wine industry. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

Profitability and Capital Structure: An Empirical Study of French and Hungarian Wine Producers in 2004-2013

Background: Profitability of the Hungarian wine industry has been a focus of numerous research studies due to the centuries-old history and the recent changes. Objectives: The aim of the study is to analyse the capital structure of the Hungarian and the French wine industries and demonstrate the benefits of the usage of an international company database. Methods/Approach: First, the database and the applied methods are described and then the descriptive statistical analysis of the industry is presented. The two set hypotheses are aimed at testing the main contradiction between the pecking order and the trade-off theory, which is related to profitability and the usage of external funds. Results: The analysis examines the differences between the funding policies applied in the two countries. This was carried out by means of a discriminant analysis, which indicates the financing characteristics of French and Hungarian wine producers. In order to confirm the results of the discriminant analysis we conducted a cluster analysis on the same sample where 3 out of 4 variables proved to be significant in classifying the two groups. Conclusions: The main conclusion of the study is that the behaviour of the factors explaining the development of the capital structure differs significantly in the two examined countries

ORBIS as a Research Tool: Examination of the Capital Structure of the Hungarian and French Wine Industry

ORBIS is a global database and financial analysis tool offering company statements, ownership, rating and scores, news and intelligence. Global means the current coverage exceeds 165 million entities which most of them are private companies. However also listed companies, banks (over 35.000), insurance companies are included. And all that taking into consideration how different the legislations in countries are sometimes not only giving the free choice to companies when it comes to publish the reports but also forbids to do so (some Islamic jurisdictions). Goal of the paper is to demonstrate the usage of ORBIS in the examination of the capital structure of the Hungarian and French wine industry. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

Regulation of mRNA translation by a photoriboswitch.

Optogenetic tools have revolutionized the study of receptor-mediated processes, but such tools are lacking for RNA-controlled systems. In particular, light-activated regulatory RNAs are needed for spatiotemporal control of gene expression. To fill this gap, we used in vitro selection to isolate a novel riboswitch that selectively binds the trans isoform of a stiff-stilbene (amino-tSS)-a rapidly and reversibly photoisomerizing small molecule. Structural probing revealed that the RNA binds amino-tSS about 100-times stronger than the cis photoisoform (amino-cSS). In vitro and in vivo functional analysis showed that the riboswitch, termed Werewolf-1 (Were-1), inhibits translation of a downstream open reading frame when bound to amino-tSS. Photoisomerization of the ligand with a sub-millisecond pulse of light induced the protein expression. In contrast, amino-cSS supported protein expression, which was inhibited upon photoisomerization to amino-tSS. Reversible photoregulation of gene expression using a genetically encoded RNA will likely facilitate high-resolution spatiotemporal analysis of complex RNA processes

Doctors’ Opinion Papers in Long-term Care Need Certification in Japan: Comparison between Clinic and Advanced Treatment Hospital Settings

The Doctor’s Opinion Paper (DOP) in long-term care insurance addresses the patient’s chronic conditions of daily life. It is expected to be written by a doctor who knows the patient well. However, DOPs are sometimes written by doctors at advanced treatment hospitals (ATHs) who might not know the patient well. Japanese government is promoting functional differentiation of medical care. We discuss appropriateness that specialists of ATH who have to provide a higher medical care take on a role to write DOP which addresses the patient’s chronic conditions of daily life. The purpose of this study is to compare DOPs completed by clinic doctors with those completed by ATH doctors, in order to examine who should write a DOP. Data: The DOPs which were used at the Care Need Certification Committee meeting held in March 2012 in Tokyo. Subjects: 403 DOPs for patients aged 65 or older. Results indicated that DOPs written by doctors in ATHs included less information than DOPs written by doctors in clinics. We need to discuss who would be appropriate doctors to write DOPs and how to educate older adults to choose the right health care facility and their doctors for their health condition. Keywords: Doctor’s opinion paper, certification of need for long-term care, long-term care insurance, advanced treatment hospital, clinic, family doctor, Japa

Prediction of Insolvency of Hungarian Micro Enterprises

The aim of the study is to establish insolvency forecast model with the usage of different statistical methods and compare their efficiency. Besides this the relation and direction between indebtedness and financial distress is also part of the examination. With different approaches we nearly reached the same efficiency, the main focus was on the independent testing sample where we did not apply any modification on the dataset supposing realistic circumstances for predicting the probability of default. The research is focusing on small companies, since their number in the economy is considered high, but for this segment such insolvency forecasts are very rare. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

Effects of Direct Renin Inhibition on Myocardial Fibrosis and Cardiac Fibroblast Function

Myocardial fibrosis, a major pathophysiologic substrate of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF), is modulated by multiple pathways including the renin-angiotensin system. Direct renin inhibition is a promising anti-fibrotic therapy since it attenuates the pro-fibrotic effects of renin in addition to that of other effectors of the renin-angiotensin cascade. Here we show that the oral renin inhibitor aliskiren has direct effects on collagen metabolism in cardiac fibroblasts and prevented myocardial collagen deposition in a non-hypertrophic mouse model of myocardial fibrosis. Adult mice were fed hyperhomocysteinemia-inducing diet to induce myocardial fibrosis and treated concomitantly with either vehicle or aliskiren for 12 weeks. Blood pressure and plasma angiotensin II levels were normal in control and hyperhomocysteinemic mice and reduced to levels lower than observed in the control group in the groups treated with aliskiren. Homocysteine-induced myocardial matrix gene expression and fibrosis were also prevented by aliskiren. In vitro studies using adult rat cardiac fibroblasts also showed that aliskiren attenuated the pro-fibrotic pattern of matrix gene and protein expression induced by D,L, homocysteine. Both in vivo and in vitro studies demonstrated that the Akt pathway was activated by homocysteine, and that treatment with aliskiren attenuated Akt activation. In conclusion, aliskiren as mono-therapy has potent and direct effects on myocardial matrix turnover and beneficial effects on diastolic function