Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sexual Behavior Increases Cell Proliferation in the Rostral Migratory Stream and Promotes the Differentiation of the New Cells into Neurons in the Accessory Olfactory Bulb of Female Rats

We have previously demonstrated, that 15 days after female rats pace the sexual interaction, there is an increase in the number of new cells that reach the granular cell layer (GrL) of the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB). The aim of the present study was to evaluate, if the first sexual experience in the female rat increases cell proliferation in the subventricular zone (SVZ) and the rostral migratory stream (RMS). We also tested if this behavior promotes the survival of the new cells that integrate into the main olfactory bulb (MOB) and AOB 45 days after the behavioral test. Sexually, naive female rats were injected with the DNA synthesis marker 5′-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) on the day of the behavioral test. They were randomly divided into the following groups: Female rats placed alone in the mating cage (1); Females exposed to amyl acetate odor [banana scent, (2)]; Females that could see, hear, and smell the male but physical contact was not possible [exposed to male, (3)]; Female rats that could pace the sexual interaction (4); and females that mated without the possibility of pacing the sexual interaction (5). Animals were sacrificed 2 days after the behavioral test (proliferation) or 45 days later (survival). Our results show that 2 days after females were exposed to banana scent or to the male, they had a higher number of cells in the SVZ. Females, that mated in pace and no-paced conditions had more new cells in the RMS. At 45 days, no significant differences were found in the number of new cells that survived in the MOB or in the AOB. However, mating increased the percentage of new cells, that differentiated into neurons in the GrL of the AOB. These new cells expressed c-Fos after a second sexual encounter just before the females were sacrificed. No significant differences in plasma levels of estradiol and progesterone were observed between groups. Our results indicate that the first sexual experience increases cell proliferation in the RMS and mating 45 days later enhances the number of new cells that differentiate into neurons in the AOB. These new neurons are activated by sexual stimulation.
Management Challenges for Africa in the Twenty-First Century: Theoretical and Applied Perspectives

Preface Management Challenges for Africa in the 21st Century by Felix Moses Edoho Theoretical and Applied Perspectives of Management in Africa Managerialism: An Overview of the Context, Issues, and Challenges by Felix Moses Edoho Managing African Business Culture by Emmanuel Nnadozie Toward An African-Oriented Management Theory by C. B. Anyansi-Archibong Philosophical Approach to Management in Africa by Felix Moses Edoho Development Planning in Africa: A Priority Approach by Ike C. Ehie Globalization of Management Technology Global Information Technology Transfer: Opportunities and Challenges for Africa by Godwin J. Udo International Transferability of Management Technology to Sub-Saharan Africa by Felix Moses Edoho Management Dilemmas in Africa: Case Studies Management and Economic Issues Facing the Newly Commercialized Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by C. B. Anyansi-Archibong and Victor E. Archibong Accounting Information Challenges Facing Management in Africa: A Case Study of Nigeria by Angela Dzata and Winifred Nweke Market-Based Property Rights as Management Tools: Implications for Nigeria by Emmanuel I. S. Ajuzie Management Ethics and Morality A Philosophical Perspective of Management, Morality, and Corruption in Africa by E. Ssekasozi Challenges of Management Ethics in Africa in the 21st Century by Felix Moses Edoho Dishonesty and Behavioral Correlates: An Empirical Analysis of Sub-Saharan African Countries and Implications for Foreign Firms by Michael A. Taku Management Challenges and National Development Is Management Education a Solution to Africa? by John Wallace and Abainesh and Mitiku Small Business Management: Prospects for Future Development by Kenneth R. Gray Challenges of Building Endogenous Management Capacity by Felix Moses Edoho Index
Stock Price Informativeness, Analyst Coverage and Economic Growth: Evidence from Emerging Markets

This paper extends the output growth model tested by Levine and Zervos (1998) by including a channel for capital allocation efficiency proxied by stock price informativeness. Using a sample of 59 countries, this study finds that stock price informativeness as measured by firm-specific return variation is positively associated with output growth after controlling for variables in the Levine and Zervos’s (1998) model. We find that stock price informativeness acts as a substitute for stock market liquidity in predicting output growth. These results are consistent with the Roll’s (1988) claim: more information-laden stock prices signal efficient stock markets and, therefore, stronger output growth. We also find that firms in emerging economies covered by more analysts incorporate greater (lesser) systematic-wide (firm-specific) information which impede the role of stock price informativeness on facilitating output growth.
Involving Reactive Oxygen Species Tumors through a Caspase-Independent Mechanism Proton Pump Inhibitors Induce Apoptosis of Human B-Cell

Proton pumps like the vacuolar-type H ATPase (V-ATPase) are involved in the control of cellular pH in normal and tumor cells. Treatment with proton pump inhibitors (PPI) induces sensitization of cancer cells to chemotherapeutics via modifications of cellular pH gradients. It is also known that low pH is the most suitable condition for a full PPI activation. Here, we tested whether PPI treatment in unbuffered culture conditions could affect survival and proliferation of human B-cell tumors. First, we showed that PPI treatment increased the sensitivity to vinblastine of a pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cell line. PPI, per se , induced a dose-dependent inhibition of proliferation of tumor B cells, which was associated with a doseand time-dependent apoptotic-like cytotoxicity in B-cell lines and leukemic cells from patients with pre-B ALL. The effect of PPI was mediated by a very early production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), that preceded alkalinization of lysosomal pH, lysosomal membrane permeabilization, and cytosol acidification, suggesting an early destabilization of the acidic vesicular compartment. Lysosomal alterations were followed by mitochondrial membrane depolarization, release of cytochrome c , chromatin condensation, and caspase activation. However, inhibition of caspase activity did not affect PPI-induced cell death, whereas specific inhibition of ROS by an antioxidant (N-acetylcysteine) significantly delayed cell death and protected both lysosomal and mitochondrial membranes. The proapoptotic activity of PPI was consistent with a clear inhibition of tumor growth following PPI treatment of B-cell lymphoma in severe combined immunodeficient mice. This study further supports the importance of acidity and pH gradients in tumor cell homeostasis and suggests new therapeutic approaches for human B-cell tumors based on PPI. [Cancer Res 2007;67(11):5408–17]
A Graph-Theoretic Technique for Classification of Normal and Tumor Tissues Using Gene Expression Microarray Data

Microarray is a very powerful and popular technology nowadays providing us with accurate predictions of the state of biological tissue samples simply based on the expression levels of genes available from it. Of particular interest in the use of microarray technology is the classification of normal and tumor tissues which is crucial for accurate diagnosis of the disease of interest. In this paper, we propose a graph-theoretic approach to the classification of normal and tumor tissues through the use of geometric representation of the graph derived from the microarray data. The accuracy of our geometric representation- based classification algorithm is shown to be comparable to that of currently known best classification algorithms for the microarray data, and in particular, the presented algorithm is shown to have the highest classification accuracy when the number of genes used for classification is small.
Models of Professional Development: A Celebration of Educators

Prologue Acknowledgments 1. The Faces of Professional Development: Alternative Models and Organizational Necessities 2. Supporting the Individual Educator Preface to Chapters 3, 4, and 5: Democracy, Charters, and Professional Development 3. Personal/Professional Direct Service Models: Mentoring, Coaching, Leading 4. Collaborative and Cooperative Models: From Open-Ended Inquiry Through Disciplined Action Research 5. Curricular and Instructional Initiatives: Schools, Districts, and States 6. The Menus for the Designated "Professional Development Days": Revisiting the "Workshop Way of Learning" 7. Embracing Both Personal and Formal Knowledge, Without Being Bowled Over by Either, or How Can We Learn What We Accomplished and What We Need to Do Next? The Importance of Cockeyed Optimism: Proceeding With Pride and Confidence Books and Citations Index About the Authors
Millimeter-wave characterization of Si/SiGe HBTs noise parameters featuring fT/fMAX of 310/400 GHz

High frequency noise parameters (NFmin, Rn, Bopt and Gopt) determination of Si/SiGe HBTs from STMicroelectronics B5T technology are provided for the first time in the millimeter-wave range. In this paper, an integrated tuner is used for the extraction of high frequencies noise parameters with the multi-impedance method. The designed tuner is composed an active part with a low noise amplifier (LNA) and a passive part with a high performances travelling wave digitally tunable capacitance (DTC), both in series with a transmission line design for phase shifting. Measurements exhibit a state of the art NFmin lower than 2 dB at 68 GHz for the HBT.
Tyrosine Phosphorylation of the 2B Subunit of the NMDA Receptor Is Necessary for Taste Memory Formation

We aimed to test whether tyrosine phosphorylation of the NMDA receptor (NMDAR) in the insular cortex is necessary for novel taste learning. We found that in rats, novel taste learning leads to elevated phosphorylation of tyrosine 1472 of the NR2B subunit of the NMDAR and increases the interaction of phosphorylated NR2B with the major postsynaptic scaffold protein PSD-95. Injection of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor genistein directly into the insular cortex of rats before novel taste exposure prevented the increase in NR2B tyrosine phosphorylation and behaviorally attenuated taste-memory formation. Functionally, tyrosine phosphorylation of NR2B after learning was found to determine the synaptic distribution of the NMDAR, since microinjection of genistein to the insular cortex altered the distribution pattern of NMDAR caused by novel taste learning.
Redundancy control for reliability-lifetime tradeoff in energy harvesting wireless sensor networks

Energy harvesting wireless sensor networks ( EHWSN) are characterized by multihop wireless lossy links and resource constrained nodes that are able to harvest small amount of energy from ambient sources such as light, heat or vibration. For TDMA MAC protocols in EHWSN, redundancy and retransmission are two important methods to provide the high end-to-end data reliability. However, reliable transmissions will lead extra energy consumption. In this paper, for the TDMA MAC protocol, we propose a Reliability-Lifetime Tradeoff Framework (RLTF) for EHWSN to optimize the redundancy transmission number for each link. For the redundancy TDMA MAC, we formulate the RLTF as convex programming. By the gradient projection method, we develop a fully distributed algorithm to solve the convex programming.
Determinants of internal control characteristics influencing voluntary and mandatory disclosures

Purpose – Concern has been raised over the dubious utility of internal control (IC) reports that contain vague disclosures of unclear meaning or that contain sweeping, albeit, and confusing statements. The purpose of this paper is to examine, from a Malaysian perspective, the internal audit control variables, which are directly responsible for the company to disclose their audit statements voluntarily or mandatorily and make it transparent to the shareholders and public.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 121 publicly traded companies were selected using the systematic sampling method from the target population of 599 companies listed on the main board of Bursa Malaysia. The names of the heads of internal audit function of the sample were obtained from the Institute of Internal Auditors Malaysia. Structured interviews were conducted with 40 heads of internal audit function out of 121 companies in order to protect anonymity of the companies that did not feel comfortable responding in writing.Findings .
Wisconsin Inventor & Entrepreneur Clubs: Investment in an Innovative Approach to Entrepreneurship

Research on entrepreneurship in rural areas has increasingly stressed the importance of a supportive environment and social networks in enhancing innovation. This report examines a novel approach to promoting entrepreneurship using regional Inventor & Entrepreneur (I&E) Clubs. A telephone survey of 21 I&E Clubs was completed to collect information on how they were established and organized as well as to document the outcomes of their activities. More than one-third (38%) of the clubs reported that new jobs had been created in their region because of participation in the club. The same number of respondents indicated at least one new patent had been filed by a member as a result of participation in the club. Similarly, 29 percent of the respondents reported members have received grants for research or business idea development. Several noted distance and lack of population density as major obstacles to promoting entrepreneurship in rural areas. Wisconsin I&E Clubs address these obstacles by providing a local venue for networking among entrepreneurs, as well as for linking participants into a larger system of support services outside the community.
Compiling high-level languages to DSPs: automating the implementation path

A large and growing number of digital signal processor (DSP) applications are initially prototyped in Matlab, a high-level language that provides concise, intuitive statement of mathematical computations. Work in this elegant language stops at the prototyping stage due to the absence of an effective automatic path to implementation. This articles overviews a set of techniques for automating an implementation path from Matlab to DSPs and provides preliminary results on the effectiveness of such techniques.
Phylogenetic Status of an Unrecorded Species of Curvularia, C. spicifera, Based on Current Classification System of Curvularia and Bipolaris Group Using Multi Loci

Abstract A seed-borne fungus, Curvularia sp. EML-KWD01, was isolated from an indigenous wheat seed by standard blotter method. This fungus was characterized based on the morphological characteristics and molecular phylogenetic analysis. Phylogenetic status of the fungus was determined using sequences of three loci: rDNA internal transcribed spacer, large ribosomal subunit, and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene. Multi loci sequencing analysis revealed that this fungus was Curvularia spicifera within Curvularia group 2 of family Pleosporaceae.
Non-Linear Time-Series Models of Ethernet Traffic

In this paper non-linear threshold autoregressive models are examined for use in modeling the temporal variation in the byte-rate in Ethernet traffic. The model is comprised of a number of autoregressive processes each of which is to be used in a specified range of amplitude of the byte-rate. The local dynamics within each threshold range are captured by an autoregressive process. The switching between each submodel is conditioned on the amplitude of a lagged value of the time-series. To dev elop the model the Bellcore Ethernet LAN data is used. It is shown that non-linear threshold autoregressive processes can be used to capture the dynamics of Ethernet LAN traffic. This model also provides for both short and longterm prediction capability and allows us to quantitatively identify the sources of long-range-dependence features in the traffic. When the aggregate traffic is partitioned into classes based on packet sizes, certain classes of traffic follow deterministic cyclical patterns. These periodic components arise from the process switching between different amplitude regimes. Superposed on this fundamental period are longer cycles that can be localized either below or above the mean byte-rate. By constructing amplitude thresholds associated with a finite set of delay parameters, the dynamics within each threshold are captured by locally linear autoregressive processes. The aggregate process is globally nonlinear. This model is shown to provide good agreement with the marginal distributions and the correlation functions derived from the Ethernet traffic data. In addition, simulation experiments demonstrate that the loss statistics observed in finite buffer queues agree favorably with those generated by the measurements.
Parallel Programming of Rule-based Systems in PARULEL

Although the problem of increasing the speed of rule-based programs by parallel processing has been studied for a long while, so far the level of parallelism achieved under various parallel processing schemes fails to meet expectations of high performance gains. In the past we have argued that without changing the inherently sequential execution semantics of typical AI rule-based languages, parallel speedup is severely limited. In a previous report, we proposed a new rule language, called PARULEL, that is based upon set-oriented execution semantics intended to increase performance under parallel execution. In order to eeectively deal with run-time execution connicts, we provide a meta-level of control in PARULEL by way of meta redaction rules. This report details a number of simulation studies comparing programs originally implemented in OPS5 and then rewritten in PARULEL. Various measurements made and reported here demonstrate that the execution semantics and connict resolution mechanism of PARULEL eeec-tively boost parallelism while controlling connicting rule executions at run-time. The studies also uncover a number of desiderata to be incorporated within the meta redaction rule mechanism of the language.
Immigration and public opinion in Europe : the case of the 2004 enlargement

After the enlargement of the European Union in 2004, large numbers of Central and Eastern Europeans moved to work in Western Europe. The aim of this thesis is to use the case of migration after the enlargement to further our understanding of the relationship between immigrant group size and natives’ attitudes. Recent scholarly debates raise questions about how immigration affects European societies and the political durability of European welfare states. This research puts forward two questions: Does an increase in Eastern European immigration after the enlargement explain differences in civic attitudes in Western Europe? And second, does this relationship (if any) depend on national contextual factors? The relationship between immigration and three categories of public attitudes are examined: attitudes towards immigration, attitudes towards welfare and attitudes of trust. This thesis draws on ethnic competition theory, which postulates that group competition over resources provokes the natives to perceive immigration as a threat to their own or their group’s interests. To test this theory, this study uses data from the European Social Survey from 2002 to 2010 to build multi-level pooled time series models. The results find only partial support for ethnic competition theory . When a greater proportion of E-8 migrants live in the country, individuals tend to have more positive views about immigration. The results also show that this positive relationship is weakened when national economic conditions are more precarious. Additionally, the results do not find that E8 migration is negatively related to Western European attitudes regarding trust or welfare. This implies that as more immigrants arrive, Europeans can potentially acknowledge immigration’s economic and cultural benefits. Moreover, these results challenge pessimistic scholarly predictions that immigration erodes trust and support for welfare in Europe. This thesis offers two academic contributions. First, it considers the case of E8 migration, which has been ignored by existing comparative attitudinal studies about immigration. Second, focusing on post-enlargement migration helps this thesis to overcome common empirical obstacles such as cross-country differences in immigrant composition and admission criteria.
Optimal Monetary Policy and Exchange Rate in a Small Open Economy with Unemployment

In this paper, we consider a small open economy under the New Keynesian model with unemployment of Gali (2011a, b) to discuss the design of the monetary policy. Our findings can be summarized in three parts. First, even with the existence of unemployment, the optimal policy is to minimize variance of domestic price inflation, wage inflation, and the output gap when both domestic price and wage are sticky. Second, stabilizing unemployment rate is important in reducing the welfare loss incurred by both technology and labor supply shocks. Therefore, introducing the unemployment rate as an another argument into the Taylor-rule type interest rate rule will be welfare-enhancing. Lastly, controlling CPI inflation is the best option when the policy is not allowed to respond to unemployment rate. Once the unemployment rate is controlled, however, stabilizing power of CPI inflation-based Taylor rule is diminished.
Circulating Levels of IL‐6 Receptor and gp130 and Long‐Term Clinical Outcomes in ST‐Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Background Reports on soluble interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) receptor (sIL‐6R) and glycoprotein 130 (sgp130) in ST‐elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) are few and include a small number of patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible association between levels of these biomarkers in the acute phase of STEMI and future cardiovascular events. Methods and Results Circulating IL‐6, sgp130, sIL‐6R, and C‐reactive protein (CRP) were measured in 989 STEMI patients during 2007–2011, and cardiovascular events were recorded during follow‐up. The primary endpoint was composite of all‐cause mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke, unscheduled revascularization, or rehospitalization for heart failure. Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for cardiovascular events in relation to biomarker levels. Median levels of sIL‐6R, sgp130, IL‐6, and CRP measured 24 hours (median) after symptom onset were 39.2 ng/mL, 240 ng/mL, 18.8 pg/mL, and 13.7 mg/L, respectively. During a median follow‐up time of 4.6 years, 200 patients (20.2%) experienced a primary endpoint, and 82 patients (8.3%) died. Patients with sIL‐6R levels in the upper quartile (>47.7 ng/mL) had significantly higher risk of future adverse events (primary endpoint) and mortality compared to patients with lower levels (adjusted HR, 1.54 [1.08, 2.21]; P=0.02 and 1.81 [1.04, 3.18]; P=0.04, respectively). Neither IL‐6 nor sgp130 levels were related to future events, but patients with CRP levels in the upper quartile (>31.5 mg/L) had higher risk of death. Conclusion High levels of sIL‐6R were associated with future cardiovascular events and mortality in STEMI patients, suggesting an important role of the IL‐6 signaling system.