Short-term Shock Research Articles

Transcriptomic Profiles of Zymomonas mobilis 8b to Furfural Acute and Long-Term Stress in Both Glucose and Xylose Conditions.

Zymomonas mobilis 8b is an ethanologenic bacterium engineered to utilize both glucose and xylose. The impacts of lignocellulosic hydrolyzate inhibitors on the growth of Zymomonas mobilis 8b have been investigated. However, the molecular responses of these inhibitors have not been completely elucidated yet. In this study, molecular responses to furfural were investigated using transcriptomic approaches of both chip-based microarray and a directional mRNA-Seq. Furfural acute shock time-course experiment with 3 g/L furfural supplemented when cells reached exponential phase and stress response experiment in the presence of 2 g/L furfural from the beginning of fermentation were carried out to study the physiological and transcriptional profiles of short-term and long-term effects of furfural on 8b. Furfural negatively affected 8b growth in terms of final biomass and the fermentation time. Transcriptomic studies indicated that the response of 8b to furfural was dynamic and complex, and differences existed between short-term shock and long-term stress responses. However, the gene function categories were similar with most down-regulated genes related to translation and biosynthesis, while the furfural up-regulated genes were mostly related to general stress responses. Several gene candidates have been identified and genetic studies indicated that expression of ZMO0465 and cysteine synthase operon ZMO0003-0006 driven by its native promoter in a shuttle vector enhanced the furfural tolerance of 8b. In addition, the relationship between microarray and mRNA-Seq was compared with good correlations. The directional mRNA-Seq data not only provided the gene expression profiling, but also can be applied for transcriptional architecture improvement to identify and confirm operons, novel transcripts, hypothetical gene functions, transcriptional start sites, and promoters with different strength.

ДИНАМІЧНА МОДЕЛЬ ПРИСТРОЮ ДЛЯ КЕРУВАННЯ ЗМІНАМИ ШВИДКОСТІ ІЗ ЗУБЧАСТИМ ДИФЕРЕНЦІАЛОМ І ЗАМКНУТОЮ ГІДРОСИСТЕМОЮ ЧЕРЕЗ ВОДИЛО

The purpose of the study is to build a dynamic model of the speed change device including a differential gear and a closed-loop hydraulic system, where the driving link is a sun gear driven by an electric motor, while a closed-loop hydraulic system is connected to the carrier and can change its speed due to changes in system’s throughput, the ability of the fluid to move across the hydraulic system, so that the necessary law of motion on the driven link - the ring gear can be obtained. The analysis of recent publications has revealed that the research of new speed control devices with a differential gear and a closed-loop hydraulic system through the carrier pays much attention to their structure, principle of operation, and the change in speed, that has been confirmed by analytical and graphical dependences. In addition, energy efficiency and self-braking of such devices has been studied by determining the coefficient of performance efficiency. The dynamics of such devices is waiting to be resolved. It will allow us to develop methods to reduce the impact of dynamic loads on the mechanical drives of machines when changing speed. The article proposes a mathematical model of the movement of a mechanical system for new devices for changing the speed using a differential gear with a closed-loop hydraulic system through the carrier. For this purpose, the equation of dynamics by the Lagrange method of the second kind has been used and the equation of kinetic energy of the system has been formed. Since there is a relationship between the speeds of all links in the differential gear, the expression for the kinetic energy of the system has been described by the speed of the driving and driven links, i.e., by the speed of the sun gear and the ring gear. The result of solving the Lagrange equation in partial derivatives is a system of two differential equations with unknown derivatives of the velocities of the sun gear and the ring gear. The obtained results are the basis for further computer simulation and quantitative analysis to assess the performance of such devices and select the necessary closed-loop hydraulic system to control speed changes. Based on the dynamic model, it is possible to compose and solve the equations of dynamics for typical cases of changes in the torque resistance: long-term shock, short-term shock and significant overload, up to the stop of the machine.

Pandemic Exposure, Credit Market Reactions, and Corporate Default Risk

This paper provides an innovative theoretical model and empirical evidence for how firm-level pandemic exposure, as an informational shock, increases a firm's credit spread and default risk. We find a positive relationship between pandemic exposure and single-name CDS spreads, and this empirical relationship remains under robustness checks and after controlling for endogeneity. Furthermore, we find that this effect of pandemic risk is more pronounced for firms with higher leverage. COVID-19 exposure has a much more significant economic impact on credit spread than the past pandemics. We also find firm-level pandemic risk reduces CDS spread slope and increases credit spread volatility which indicates that pandemic risk tends to manifests as as short-term shock that results in short term credit spreads trading higher relative to longer term credit spreads and more uncertainty around credit status.

Macroeconomic Analysis of Policies Addressing Coronavirus Pandemic.

During last two quarters, active macroeconomic policies have been a significant component of the overall response of the U.S. government to the coronavirus pandemic. An analysis of current government policies addressing this short-term shock and the resulting economic impact would be helpful in developing future policies, should similar circumstances arise down the road. We conjecture that the combination of expansionary macroeconomic policies preceding the coronavirus pandemic likely shifted the level of U.S. aggregate economic output beyond the point of macroeconomic equilibrium with full employment. In other words, the start of the Coronavirus pandemic coincided with the macroeconomic phenomenon known as demand-pull inflation. In such economic conditions the level of aggregate output is much higher than the economy can sustain in the long run, but the overheated economy enjoys all the benefits of higher than natural level of national production and low unemployment in the short term. The following economic shutdown driven by growing worries over the limited hospital capacity, which would have become unable to meet the growing needs of hospitalization by Coronavirus patients, caused a severe shift in the demand for economic output, along with sharp declines in personal consumption, business investments, and exports of goods and service. The $2 trillion economic relief package known as the CARES Act of March 2020 softened the adverse economic impact of this shock to some extent. The observation in this brief suggests that the overheated economy absorbed some of the shock produced by the economic shutdown, therefore limiting the devastating impact of the sharp economic contraction.

The Influence of Environmental Change (Crops and Water) on Population Redistribution in Mexico and Ethiopia

This paper discusses the effects of long-term environmental change (represented by the abundance or scarcity relative to the long-term average level of crop yield/river flow) and short-term environmental shock (represented by the maximum number of consecutive years below the median crop yield/river flow per decade) on population redistribution in Mexico and Ethiopia. Crop production and water resources, which are affected by climate change and influence human survival and activities, were selected as research variables. Two developing countries, namely, Mexico and Ethiopia, were selected as comparison cases. The results showed that short-term environmental shocks had no correlation with population redistribution. Short-term environmental shocks might fail to influence migration decisions or cause only temporary displacements that cannot be detected by demographic statistics. Among the long-term environmental change factors, only crop yield deviation was found to have a significant positive correlation with population redistribution. Based on two different datasets and two different decades, crop yield deviation is positively correlated with population redistribution; the correlation coefficients between crop yield deviation and population redistribution were 0.134 to 0.162 in Mexico and 0.102 to 0.235 in Ethiopia. When urbanization was considered as the control variable, the correlation coefficient between crop yield deviation and population redistribution in Mexico dropped by half, while it was almost the same in Ethiopia. However, Ethiopia’s population redistribution was more clearly influenced by the population itself. Crop yield deviation relative to water flow deviation meant changes in livelihoods. Population redistribution is a possible means of adapting to changes in livelihood. Mexico exhibited high resilience to changes in livelihoods caused by long-term environmental change, especially in its densely populated areas. In contrast, Ethiopia was characterized mainly by high population growth and low population migration. People in some areas of Ethiopia were forced to endure hardship of livelihood deterioration or to stay where they were due to the difficulty of obtaining sufficient resources to afford the cost of migration.

An interrupted time-series analysis of the impact of emergency department reconfiguration on regional emergency department trolley numbers in Ireland from 2005 to 2015

ObjectivesTo understand the impact of emergency department (ED) reconfiguration on the number of patients waiting for hospital beds on trolleys in the remaining EDs in four geographical regions in Ireland...

The populist temptation: economic grievance and political reaction in the modern era

The recent surge of populism is a relatively new occurrence in advanced economies. The question is whether this surge is directly correlated to wider income (and wealth) inequality, or if it is related to the austerity measures introduced as a result of the global financial crisis. Or, perhaps, is it in fact just a matter of identity and nativism? In The populist temptation, Barry Eichengreen argues that adverse economic conditions leverage grievances, foster intolerance and undermine the social fabric, resulting in a breeding ground for populism. Xenophobia and intolerance thrive in environments where people feel that their standard of living and economic security are under threat—and so they take this threat to apply to their identity. Inadequate responses from mainstream politics, coupled with weak institutions, open the door to anti-establishment movements that offer easy solutions to complex issues. The difficulties experienced by the UK government in negotiating an outcome that respects their voters' preference for leaving the European Union without undermining Britain's long-term growth or creating a short-term shock serves as a reminder of populism's intellectual and political shortfalls. It also reflects populism's dangerously manipulative influence on public opinion.

EFFECTS OF THE PRE-REPURCHASE SYSTEMATIC RISK ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INVESTOR BEHAVIOR, MARKET FACTORS AND THE STOCK PRICE RESPONSES

This study explores the pre-repurchase systematic risk will affect the abnormal returns in the open-market repurchase event period and also change the relationship between the investor sentiment, trading activity, market factors and stock price response during the event on Taiwan stock market. Based on threshold regression models, it is found that the pre-repurchase systematic risk will significantly change the relationship between investor behavior, market factors and stock price responses and the asymmetry of the relationship exists when pre-repurchase systematic risk is lower than a repartition, which supports that institutional investors and credit trading investors differ in these existing relationships. When the pre-repurchase beta is below repartition, it will be detrimental to the returns in event period. But on the contrary, the returns in the short-term shock of news exposure period present the favorable results, which may be related to the fact that there exists sentiment premium in short-term when credit trading investors’ repurchase news exposure occurs. Finally, the study is to confirm the effect of systematic risk for returns and investor sentiment, these results have not been further explored in the past, and can be used as the firm’s evalu-ation reference to the repurchase program in the future.

A comprehensive comparison between halophilic granular and flocculent sludge in withstanding short and long-term salinity fluctuations

The effects of salinity fluctuations on the activity of autochthonous halophilic bacteria in aerobic granular sludge (AGS) and flocculent activated sludge (FAS) reactors were investigated. The response of nitrifiers and denitrifiers activity to drastic and moderate salinity shocks in the short-term (ST) and long-term (LT) was examined.The BOD5 removal efficiency decreased only in the reactors subjected to the drastic LT salinity increase. Nevertheless, stable performances were achieved 18 days after the shock in the AGS-R1 (90%), whereas after 27 days in the FAS-R1 (82%).The loss in nitritation efficiency was higher in the FAS reactors and was proportional to the shock intensity. Nitritation activity collapsed from approximately 3.8 mgNH4-N gVSS−1 h−1 to 0.73 mgNH4-N gVSS−1 h−1 and from 4.5 mgNH4-N gVSS−1 h−1 to 0.24 mgNH4-N gVSS−1 h−1 in the AGS-R1 and FAS-R1, respectively, even if the ammonium oxidation capacity did not completely disappeared. Denitritation activity decreased from 11.44 mgNO2-N gVSS−1 h−1 to 3.93 mgNO2-N gVSS−1 h−1 in the AGS-R1 at steady state, whereas in the FAS-R1, it decreased from 12.53 mgNO2-N gVSS−1 h−1 to 2.09 mgNO2-N gVSS−1 h−1.Nitritation and denitritation were completely restored 5 days after ST shock. No significant effects were observed after the moderate shock.The changes in the total EPS content were lower than 10%, therefore, it was considered negligible. Only drastic shocks caused significant changes in the EPS structure, with an increase of the loosely-bound by 45% in the AGS and 55% in the FAS.

What Drives the Off-Shore Futures Market? Evidence from India and China

In this paper, we chiefly address the determinants of off-shore listed prices of Indian and Chinese derivatives, especially when the underlying spot markets are closed for trading. Using microstructure data, we split a trading day of the underlying into three segments – pre-market hours, market hours, post-market hours and analyze what factors move the prices. When the underlying is open, we find contemporaneous and bi-directional causal relationship between the spot index and the corresponding SGX futures. When the underlying is closed for trading, we find strong statistical evidence to suggest that the US market is imperative in explaining the price movements of both SGX Nifty futures (SIN) and SGX FTSE China A50 index futures (SFC). We also find that USD/INR exchange rate movements determine the SIN movements when both the underlying and the US market are closed for trading. When we examine the volatility spillovers using BEKK GARCH model, we find only significant short-term shock spillovers. Particularly, we observe unidirectional short-term spillover from SIN to USD/INR exchange rate and a spillover from SFC to the US market.

Econometric Analysis of Turkish Grain Board Purchasing in Turkeys Wheat Market

In this study, the relationship between Turkish Grain Board’s (TGB) wheat purchases, which are used as a government policy tool for support of producers in Turkey, wheat production, wheat price, TGB wheat purchase price and world wheat prices were investigated. Firstly, short-term effects of other variables on TGB wheat purchasing were researched by applying the granger causality test, impulse-response and variance decomposition tests with the VAR method. According to the results of the impulse response analysis obtained from the VAR model, a positive shock in wheat production amount and TMO wheat purchasing prices increases the amount of TGB’s wheat purchase, and a positive shock in wheat prices and world prices reduces the amount of TGB’s wheat purchase. When the results of the variance decomposition are examined, it is seen that amount of TGB’s wheat purchases are mainly derived from wheat production and itself. Secondly, cointegration relationship betwen TGB’s wheat purchases and other variables are analyzed with ARDL bound test approach. According to the results of the ARDL bound test, in the long run, wheat production and TGB’s wheat purchase prices have positive and significant effect on TGB’s wheat purchase amount, while wheat prices have negative and significant effect. In the long run, world prices have a negative effect on the amount of wheat purchases, but this effect is insignificant. According to the results of the error correction model, any short-term shock’s effect disappear very quickly in the long run.

Structural changes and competitive balance in the korean professional baseball league

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of structural changes on competitive balance in the Korean Professional Baseball League (KPBL). The study used standard deviation of winning percentages (SDWP) and Gini coefficient to measure competitive balance in the KPBL. Both measures were used as dependent variables in the model. The independent variables were the effect of free agency, amateur draft, the introduction of foreign players, a number of games in a regular season, and short-term shock due to an expansion of the league. The data consist of all regular seasons in the KPBL (1982-2016). The results of this styudy showed that only free agency and the number of games each team plays in a regular season were statistically significant in both SDWP and Gini models. The study found a significant decrease in standard deviation of winning percentages (SDWP) and Gini coefficient after the introduction of free agency in the KPBL. Also, competitive balance was increased as the number of games each team plays increase. However, this study did not found other structural changes to affect competitive balance in the KPBL. It may be due to the limited number of sample size based on the relatively short history of the KPBL(35 years). Since competitive balance is important for both the sport league and sport fans, baseball teams and the league should focus on maintaining and improving competitive balance in the KPBL.

Impact of health capital on economic growth in Singapore: an ARDL approach to cointegration

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the long-term impacts of health capital on economic growth in Singapore from 1980 to 2013.Design/methodology/approachAutoregressive distributed lag (ARDL)-ECM methodology and several diagnostic and specification tests were used to estimate the impact of health capital on economic growth on time series data covering the period 1980-2013.FindingsThe results confirm that health capital (measure by health expenditure per capita) positively and significantly affects Singapore’s economic growth in the long run. In addition, the equilibrium error correction coefficient lagged by one in the short-run is approximately 83.25 percent for all estimated variables, implying a considerably high speed of long-term adjustment to equilibrium following a short-term shock. Moreover, the Toda-Yamamoto’s Granger causality estimation reveals that there is a unidirectional causality from health expenditure per capita to GDP per capita.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings imply that Singapore’s economic growth could be improved significantly if expenditure on health capital is increased. This eventually would have a substantial impact on human productivity which leads to improved output per capita. Thus, policy makers and/or the government should strive to create institutional capacity to improve basic health service by strengthening the health institutions infrastructure that produces healthy and quality manpower.Originality/valueGrounded on the premises that there are little or no studies on the impact of health capital on Singapore economy, this paper provides new evidence on the potential effect of health capital on Singapore’s economic growth over the last three decades. Also, this study explore the causal effect (unidirectional or bidirectional) between health capital and economic growth.

Efficacy of short-term shock therapy with dexamethasone eye drops combined with azelastine hydrochloride eye drops for treatment of allergic conjunctivitis

Efficacy of short-term shock therapy with dexamethasone eye drops combined with azelastine hydrochloride eye drops for treatment of allergic conjunctivitis

Integration and Volatilitys Persistence in Emerging and Developed countries: Impulse Responses and Multivariate DCC GARCH

The financial sectors have significant direct and indirect effects on the real economy because they are responsible for saving mobilization and credit allocation. So as to maximize their utility and well manage potential risks, stockholders and investors can use various financial products. If the financial sector is healthy, credit should become more available and the cost of finance should be more affordable. Up to this point, little is known about how stock markets, exchange rates and crude oil respond to financial stress shock. This paper uses monthly stock indexes, exchange rates and crude oil prices data from April 2003 until December 2014 to test and model the international markets’ integration, short term shock and volatility persistence in both emerging and developed countries. Trivariate DCC GARCH model and impulse responses show several interdependences and integration between international stock markets, exchange rates and crude oil.

The Effects of Increasing Tobacco Price on Smoking Rate and Tobacco Consumption: Performance of Increasing Price Policy in 2015

본 연구는 2015년의 담배가격인상 정책이 흡연율과 담배소비량에 미친 영향을 확인하고 정책의 성과를 평가한다. 2009년부터 2016년까지 8개년도 32분기 동안의 통계청 가계동향조사 자료를 이용하여 추세효과와 계절효과, 2015-1분기 정책시작시점의 단기충격효과 등의 교란요인을 보정하고 담배가격인상이 흡연율에 미친 영향을 로지스틱회귀분석으로, 담배소비량에 미친 영향은 선형회귀분석으로 추정하였다. 흡연율의 로지스틱회귀모형 추정결과 가격인상 전 31%였던 흡연가구비율이 가격 2,000원 인상으로 인해 28% 정도로 약 3%p 정도 감소했음을 확인하였고, 담배소비량의 선형회귀분석결과 흡연가구의 담배소비량이 가격인상 전 월18.5갑에서 가격인상 후 16갑 정도로 14% 정도 감소했음을 확인하였다. 본 연구의 결과는 담배가격 2,000원 인상이 정책시작직후의 단기충격효과가 사라진 이후에도 유의한 수준의 흡연율 감소와 담배소비 감소를 유도하였음을 확인하였고, 이후로 추가적인 가격 인상정책을 고려할 경우 정책의 영향을 수량적으로 예측하는데 참고로 사용할 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.This study examines the effects of the tobacco price increasing policy in 2015 on smoking rate and tobacco consumption and evaluates the impact of the policy. We used the households survey data, the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS), which contains data collected throughout the past eight years, from 2009 to 2016. We analyzed the effect of tobacco price increase on smoking rate with logistic regression and the effect on tobacco consumption with linear regression. We adjusted the confounding factors such as trend effects, seasonal effects, and short-term shock effects for the first quarter of the 2015, when the policy was implemented. As a result of the logistic regression model for the cigarette smoking rate, it was confirmed that the ratio of smoking households, which was 31% before the policy, decreased by about 3% due to the price increased by 2,000 won. The linear regression analysis of cigarette consumption showed that the cigarette consumption was decreased by 14%, from 18.5 packs per month before the price increase to 16 packs after the price increase. The results of this study confirmed that the increase of tobacco price by 2,000 won caused the decrease of smoking rate and tobacco consumption significantly after the short-term shock effect and it can be used as a reference for quantitative estimation when considering additional price-increase policy.

PENGARUH INTERMEDIASI PERBANKAN TERHADAP PERTUMBUHAN EKONOMI INDONESIA

This study aims to discuss banking as a financial intermediary institution in increasing economic growth. The banking intermediation variable in this study is measured by two variables, namely the ratio of credits per Real GDP and the ratio of third party funds to Real GDP. In addition to financial variables, also used control variables to economic growth is BI-rates. The data used are 1 st quarter 2007 to 4 th quarter 2014. This study uses a cointegration test of the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach to prove the long-term effects between variables and error correction models (ECM) to see how quickly the economy returns to a balanced state when there is a short-term shock. The result shows that there is a long-term relationship between variables, where the ratio of credits per Real GDP, third party funds to Real GDP, and BI- rates have a positive and significant impact on Indonesia's economic growth, both in the long term and short term

Sensitivity of ‘Monika’ Cucumis sativus seedlings to low temperature and induction of chilling tolerance

AbstractThe aim of the research was to investigate the chilling sensitivity of cucumber seedlings and to alleviate its negative effects by short-term shock temperature applied during seeds imbibition, before radicle protrusion. The chilling sensitivity was investigated depending on initial root length (1, 3, 5 and 7 mm) and duration of chilling exposure (0, 1, 3, 7, 14, 21 days) at 0°C and was evaluated by measurements of roots and hypocotyls growth, electrolyte leakage and dehydrogenases activity. To assess whether short-term shock temperature applied before radicle protrusion can increase chilling tolerance in cucumber seedlings the seeds were imbibed at 25°C for 16 h, exposed to temperatures of 0; 2,5; 5; 35; 40, 45°C for 0; 0,5; 1; 2; 4 h.The obtained results indicated that cucumber seedlings sensitivity depended on duration of chilling expo-sure and initial root length during which the seedlings were subjected to these conditions. Chilling sensitivity were manifested by drop in the roots and hypocotyls elongation, reduction in dehydrogenases activity and membrane integrity expressed by electrolyte leakage. Seedlings with 1 mm roots was relatively tolerant to 3 days of chilling at 0°C. Their chilling sensitivity increased as roots elongated. Seedling with 3, 5, 7 mm of roots subjected to chilling suffered a subsequent 71, 75 and 81% of growth inhibition, respectively.The presented results showed that a short-term of low (0; 2,5 or 5°C) or high (35; 40 or 45°C) temperature treatments applied before radicle protrusion i.e. after 16 h of seeds imbibition significantly counteracted the negative effects of chilling on seedlings. The best results expressed by increased length and the number of roots were obtained when imbibed seeds were exposed to 45°C for 2 and 4 h. The increased chilling tolerance of cucumber seedlings induced as early as at the stage of seed imbibition, before radicle protrusion indicates on the possibility of application of this method in practice. The positive response of such treatment on cucumber chilling tolerance are discussed.

Performance of a double-layer BAF using zeolite and ceramic as media under ammonium shock load condition

An experiment was carried out to investigate the anti-ammonium shock load capacity of a biological aerated filter (BAF) composed of a double-layer bed. This bed was made up of a top layer of ceramic and a bottom layer of zeolite. The experiment shows that the anti-ammonium shock load process can be divided into two processes: adsorption and release. In the adsorption process, the total removal efficiency of ammonia nitrogen by zeolite and ceramic was 94%. In the release process, the ammonia nitrogen concentration increased significantly and then gradually returned to the normal level four hours after the shock load. The results indicated that the double-layer BAF had a high level of adaptability to the short-term ammonium shock load and long-term operation. The main factors influencing the dynamic process of ammonia nitrogen adsorption were the filter bed height, ammonia nitrogen concentration of influent, and flow rate. The bed depth service time (BDST) model was used to predict the relationship between the filter bed height and breakthrough time at different flow rates, and the results are reliable.

Physiologic Responses of Mammalian Oocytes and Embryos under Thermal Stress: An Overview

Animals respond to environmental stresses by a global adaptation and adjustment to their physiologic homeostasis in order to eliminate most harmful changes and survive from the insults. This adaptation is the summation of all responses from their building blocks, cells with their associated cellular machineries in response to the undesired environmental clues. It has been known that heat shock proteins (Hsps), some of which are molecular chaperones present in all organisms, are a group of universal cellular proteins to oppose environmentally induced denaturation of many other proteins. These proteins function to assist in folding of newly synthesized proteins and maintain preexisting proteins in a stable conformation without aggregation under stress conditions, which are essential for thermal adaptation in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, including mammalian cells. Although thermobiology has been one of the active fields of study in cell biology or cancer therapy, there is less information available for the adaptation or responses to thermal stresses in embryonic cells such as oocytes and embryos. Previous studies have shown that a short-term heat shock (HS) impacts the developmental competence of embryos during the early phase of apoptosis and the alteration of intracellular calcium concentrations of matured porcine oocytes. Cleavage and blastocyst rates declined while the Ca^(2+)-releasing ability of matured oocytes was enhanced by a short duration (2 h) of HS, but declined after prolonged heat exposure. Taken together, the mechanisms of physiologic adaptation in response to thermal stress in oocytes and embryos are complex processes. HS can cause multiple changes to the oocyte and developing embryos such as enzymatic reactions, ionic influxes, DNA structure and cytoskeleton reorganization, as well as changes in the ooplasmic [Ca^(2+)]i after various intensities of HS. These phenomena may be critical parameters to evaluate their developmental competence. Delicate equilibrium between the deleterious effects and thermotolerance thermotolerance of oocytes, embryos and even the whole animal adapting to HS is one of the decisive factors in determining their fate during the course of development.