This paper compares the Portuguese and Bulgarian consumer price indices (CPI) and attempts to identify some areas in which the CPI compilation methodology could be improved in the two countries. This work is organised into six sections. The first section briefly describes the organisational structure on which the production of the CPI is based in the two countries. The second section focuses on...

The existing classification-based policy iteration (CBPI) algorithms can be divided into two categories: direct policy iteration (DPI) methods that directly assign the output of the classifier (the approximate greedy policy w.r.t. the current policy) to the next policy, and conservative policy iteration (CPI) methods in which the new policy is a mixture distribution of the current policy and th...

levels, leading to activation of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) in smooth muscle and, as a result, MLC phosphorylation. This action is followed immediately by a decrease in MLC phosphatase (MLCP) activity and a resultant increase in MLC20 phosphorylation, which induces further contraction, that is Ca sensitization. Multiple second messengers/signaling pathways including the RhoA/Rho-associate...

OASDI benefits are indexed for inflation to protect beneficiaries from the loss of purchasing power implied by inflation. In the absence of such indexing, the purchasing power of Social Security benefits would be eroded as rising prices raise the cost of living. By statute, cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for Social Security benefits are calculated using the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) ...

Sesamin is a furofuran lignan biosynthesized from the precursor lignan pinoresinol specifically in sesame seeds. This lignan is shown to exhibit anti-hypertensive activity, protect the liver from damages by ethanol and lipid oxidation, and reduce lung tumor growth. Despite rapidly elevating demand, plant sources of lignans are frequently limited because of the high cost of locating and collecti...

The internal anal sphincter (IAS) tone is important for the rectoanal continence. The RhoA/Rho kinase (ROK) pathway has been associated with the agonist-induced sustained contraction of the smooth muscle, but its role in the spontaneously tonic smooth muscle is not known. Present studies compared expression of different components of the RhoA/ROK pathway between the IAS (a truly tonic SM), the ...

ABSTRACT Climate policy integration (CPI) is a key strategy for implementing climate action, spanning sectors and levels of governance. As central agenda-setting actor in the EU, we argue that understanding institutional capacity CPI inside European Commission especially important advancement EU overall. We focus on inner workings Commission, ask:what role does leadership style President play a...

A significant concern for many households is the expense they incur to buy the goods and services that are necessary to maintain a certain standard of living – that is, their ‘cost of living’. The prices of many of these items tend to rise over time, which places upward pressure on the cost of living. The CPI, which measures inflation in prices, is often used to assess changes in the cost of li...

A multiplex Taqman-based real-time reverse transcription (RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was developed to identify potential severe strains of Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) and separate genotypes that react with the monoclonal antibody MCA13. Three strain-specific probes were developed using intergene sequences between the major and minor coat protein genes (CPi) in a multiplex reactio...