Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
National Business Systems and National Systems of Innovation

It is well known that theoretical work in academia as well as innovative efforts in firms often follow parallel tracks and that quite similar new ideas, concepts, and products emerge almost simultaneously, without much direct communication taking place among the parallel efforts. This may also occur in the social sciences in periods when certain ideas are "in the air" and certain new phenomena and insights become more obvious to analysts. In this article, I bring out some fundamental similarities and differences between two sets of ideas that overlap in important respects but where we find little cross-referencing. One relates to national business systems (NBS), the other to national innovation systems (NIS). The fact that there are few references between the two, although they deal with related issues, suggests a potential for cross-fertilization. Having contributed extensively to the literature on national systems of innovation (Lundvall, 1988, 1992), I ask: What can the innovation-systems approach learn from the work of Richard Whitley (1994a, 1994b, 1996) and his colleagues? And, vice versa, are there experiences from the field of innovation-systems studies that may be useful for the further development of the business-systems approach? I begin by comparing the two approaches in terms of major differences and similarities. The Whitley approach may be commended for its attempt to be explicit regarding the elements constituting the national system and to specify their structural interconnections. But its neglect of international specialization, central to the innovation-system approach, causes it to underestimate the feedback impact of the business system on the institutional setup. The business-systems approach, while originally rooted in sociology, increasingly has become based on economic theory and especially on a version of the Penrosian theory of the firm. This brings me to the interpretation made by Whitley (1996) of the firm, and I argue that it puts too little emphasis on learning and competence building and too much on risk sharing and on the application of existing competencies.
Transactions Theory, Stochastic Processes and Derived Accounting Measurement

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how the axiomatic theory of transaction cost measurement described in Willett (1987, 1988) can be used to determine precisely what accounting numbers represent. By a method of analysis supplemented with simulation experiments, transactions theory is shown to have a unifying character bringing together aspects of stochastic cost-volume-profit analysis, research into the distributional properties of accounting numbers, and income theory. The unifying character of transactions theory is due to the cost and production structures on which it is based being sufficient to describe accounting numbers of any complexity. The consequences of transactions theory are wide. Descriptions of accounting numbers as stochastic variables and statistical criteria for choice of income measurement arise naturally. The theory is a self-contained conceptual framework for understanding the measurement problem in accounting which does not depend upon the concepts of rational decision making and restrictive assumptions about market structures.
Intentions towards the sustainability of young adults: a cross-cultural comparison

Education for sustainable development in higher education is becoming increasingly important for success of universities and other institutions where students will exercise their professions. The main goal of this study is to apply the theory of planned behaviour to analyse sustainability attitudes, behaviours and intentions among students in higher education institutions across five countries: USA, Portugal, Cyprus, Serbia, and South Korea. The results suggest that individualism, masculinity, and power distance moderate the effects of attitude and behaviour on sustainable intentions. Individuals in more individualistic and masculine societies tend to be more pro-active and assertive in their attitudes, decisions, and reactions towards sustainability. In universities located in societies that score high in power distance, professors and senior managers must be very clear when defining and practicing sustainability issues in courses, classes and on campus.
Labour flexibility and job market segmentation in Spain: a perspective from the labour demand side

The aim of this research is to conduct a quantitative analysis of the factors leading Spanish companies to adopt certain forms of organization that are typical of flexible businesses and high performance organizations. Despite the supposed inflexibility of the Spanish labour market, the results both point towards the high capacity of Spanish companies to select the form of work organization that best suits them and show the key role that competitive strategy plays when it comes to differentiating or segmenting types of work or workers, over and above the rigid working regulations that, purportedly, standardize labour relations in Spain.
Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Features in Melanocytoma of the Optic Nerve.

Optic disc melanocytoma (ODM) is a pigmented tumor with malignant potential characterized clinically as a dark brown to black lesion with feathery margins. The authors report a case of ODM and describe the utility of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in detecting superficial tumor vascularization. This case report demonstrated the ability of OCTA to reveal the fine abnormal retinal vasculature on the surface of the lesion, a characteristic of ODM, which has been previously correlated with tumor growth. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2017;48:364-366. ].
Are Investors Rational and Does it Matter? Determining the Expected Utility Function for a Group of Investors

This paper reports on an experiment with a group of 236 Australian superannuation investors to derive an expected utility function for risk and return, and the resulting indifference curves. The paper concludes that the expected utility function is consistent with that anticipated in Markowitz [1952] and Sharpe [1964] except that the investors did not consider time horizon. The paper argues that the analysis of investor behavior is best served by considering the behavior of a group as a whole rather than investors as individuals, and by assessing their choices when faced with successive similar tasks.
Effect of various test meals on gastric and jejunal carbon dioxide: A study in healthy subjects

Objective. The normal pattern of carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the human stomach and small bowel after meals is unknown. The intraluminal carbon dioxide level is a sensitive and early marker for organ mucosal ischemia. CO2 levels in both the stomach and small bowel are influenced by multiple factors other than adequacy of perfusion. Gastric acid production, salivary bicarbonate and CO2 produced or absorbed by meals are the disturbing variables. Prolonged gastric (and jejunal) tonometry after meals can be of additional value in the work-up of patients suspected of (chronic) gastrointestinal ischemia. The purpose of this study was to challenge these problems using in vitro tested meals and a rigid acid-suppression regimen in a group of healthy subjects. Material and methods. Standard meals were tested in vitro on the ability to produce and buffer CO2. Meals with the least CO2 variations were subsequently used in healthy subjects. Tonometry of the stomach and jejunum was performed for 24 h, with optimal and controlled acid suppression. Results. Ten subjects were enrolled in the study. Acid production was sufficiently suppressed. The gastric PCO2 baseline (fasting) was 6.5 (1.0), and significantly lower than the jejunum PCO2 baseline of 7.6 (0.9) kPa. The gastric baseline during the day was 6.9 (1.6), and significantly lower than the gastric baseline during the night of 8.0 (1.8), suggesting a diurnal variation of PCO2. Increases in PCO2 levels were seen in all subjects, after meals and between meals. Conclusions. Prolonged gastric and jejunal tonometry is feasible in humans. PCO2 levels were seen to peak after, but also in-between, most meals. The diurnal variation in PCO2 might reflect reversible gastric mucosal ischemia.
TNF-Alpha Gene Polymorphisms in Iranian Azari Turkish Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Context: Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are chronic inflammatory diseases of the bowel (IBD) whose causes are not fully known. Emerging data indicate that alterations in cytokine synthesis may play a role in IBD pathogenesis. Aims: We aimed to determine the association between tumor necrosis factor-alfa (TNFα) promoter polymorphisms (at positions − 308 and − 1031) and susceptibility to IBD among Iranian Azari Turkish patients. Settings and Design: One hundred and one patients with IBD and 100 healthy subjects were analyzed. Materials and Methods: Both polymorphisms in the promoter region of the TNFα gene at positions -1031T/C and -308G/A were detected by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. All statistical analyses were calculated with SPSS for Windows 16.0. The Fisher's exact test was used to test for departure from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium of the genotype frequencies (P > 0.05). Results: The allele frequency of the TNFα-308G and -1031T were higher in IBD patients but did not reach statistical significance. However, the homozygous TT genotype for the SNP-1031 T > C was significantly higher in UC patients than in healthy controls (P = 0.01) and the heterozygous CT genotype for the SNP -1031 T > C was significantly lower in UC patients than in healthy controls (P = 0.03). Conclusions: The TNFα-1031 T allele confers a significant risk for developing UC in Iranian Azeri Turkish patients. Also the frequency of TNFα-1031 C allele was considerably low among patients with UC and it may have protective role among them (OR = 0.43; P = 0.01).
Time-lapse electrical recordings of single neurons from the mouse neocortex

The ability of the brain to adapt to environmental demands implies that neurons can change throughout life. The extent to which single neurons actually change remains largely unstudied, however. To evaluate how functional properties of single neurons change over time, we devised a way to perform in vivo time-lapse electrophysiological recordings from the exact same neuron. We monitored the contralateral and ipsilateral sensory-evoked spiking activity of individual L2/3 neurons from the somatosensory cortex of mice. At the end of the first recording session, we electroporated the neuron with a DNA plasmid to drive GFP expression. Then, 2 wk later, we visually guided a recording electrode in vivo to the GFP-expressing neuron for the second time. We found that contralateral and ipsilateral evoked responses (i.e., probability to respond, latency, and preference), and spontaneous activity of individual L2/3 pyramidal neurons are stable under control conditions, but that this stability could be rapidly disrupted. Contralateral whisker deprivation induced robust changes in sensory-evoked response profiles of single neurons. Our experiments provide a framework for studying the stability and plasticity of single neurons over long time scales using electrophysiology.
Long term follow-up of deep brain stimulation of the caudal zona incerta for essential tremor

Purpose The ventral intermediate nucleus of thalamus is the standard target for deep brain stimulation (DBS) in essential tremor (ET). However, favourable data have recently highlighted the caudal zona incerta (cZi) as an alternative target. Reports concerning the long-term results are however lacking, and we have therefore evaluated the long-term effects in our patients with ET and cZi DBS. Methods 18 patients were evaluated using the Essential Tremor Rating Scale (ETRS) before and on-/off-stimulation at 1 and 3–5 years after surgery (mean 48.5±10.6 months). Two patients were operated on bilaterally but all electrodes were evaluated separately. The stimulation parameters were recorded and the stimulation strength calculated. Results A baseline total ETRS mean score of 46.0 decreased to 21.9 (52.4%) at the final evaluation. On the treated side, tremor of the upper extremity (item 5 or 6) improved from 6.1 to 0.5 (91.8%) and hand function (items 11–14) improved from 9.3 to 2.0 (78.0%). Activities of daily living improved by 65.8%. There was no increase in stimulation strength over time. Conclusion cZi DBS is a safe and effective treatment for the long term suppression of ET.
Mapping career success competencies to engineering leadership capabilities

Societal expectations of twenty-first century engineers have dramatically changed over the past few decades. There is a need to educate engineers not just in technical subjects, but also in many non-technical areas including globalization, communication, and leadership. There has been a growth of engineering leadership education programs offered by postsecondary engineering institutions. The effectiveness of these programs is often measured by the student's acquisition of skills, without considering the benefit of these skills on the students' careers. Using the career success competencies model, this paper seeks to determine if engineering leadership education impacts career success. The theoretical mapping analysis indicated a positive relationship between engineering leadership education and career success. The most significant competencies related to an engineer's career success were career insight, proactive personality, openness to experience, and lifelong learning.
Pursuing the Value-Conscious Consumer: Store Brands versus National Brand Promotions

The objective of this article is to determine whether national brand promotions and store brands attract the same value-conscious consumers, which would aggravate channel conflict between manufacturers and retailers. The authors identify psychographic and demographic traits that potentially drive usage of store brands and national brand promotions. They then develop a framework and structural equation model to study the association of these traits with store brand and national brand promotion usage. The authors find that though demographics do not influence these behaviors directly, they have significant associations with psychographic characteristics and therefore are useful for market targeting. Most important, usage of store brands and usage of promotions, particularly out-of-store promotions, are associated with different psychographics. Store brand use correlates mainly with traits related to economic benefits and costs, whereas the use of out-of-store promotions is associated mainly with traits related to hedonic benefits and costs. These differences result in four well-defined and identifiable consumer segments: deal-focused consumers, store brand–focused consumers, deal and store brand users (use-all), and nonusers of both store brands and deals (use-none). Therefore, manufacturers and retailers have the opportunity to either avoid each other or compete head to head, depending on which segment they target.
Surgical utility of Afirma: effects of high cancer prevalence and oncocytic cell types in patients with indeterminate thyroid cytology.

OBJECTIVE The Afirma Gene Expression Classifier (GEC) molecular marker assay was developed for the purpose of improving surgical decision-making with indeterminate fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsies of thyroid nodules. In this paper, we analyze the performance of the GEC over 27 months in a community hospital-based thyroid surgery practice. METHODS We began using GEC and Thyroid Cytopathology Partners (TCP) exclusively for thyroid FNA analysis in January 2011, shortly after the Afirma GEC became commercially available. In this paper, we focus on patients with indeterminate FNA results and the outcomes of GEC analysis, with particular attention paid to the calculation of the negative predictive value (NPV) of the Afirma test. RESULTS We performed 645 FNAs in 519 patients over 27 months. Overall, 58 FNAs (9%) were read as indeterminate, with 36 of these classified as suspicious by GEC (62%), 20 characterized as GEC benign (34%), and 2 determined to be inadequate due to low mRNA content. Of the 36 suspicious GEC patients, 30 underwent thyroidectomy, and 21 of the 30 had malignant final pathology. Of the 20 benign GEC patients, 5 underwent thyroid surgery, and 2 were discovered to have malignancies. The NPV for the Afirma GEC in our practice environment was 89.6%. CONCLUSION In a practice with a high incidence of thyroid cancer in patients with indeterminate FNAs (33% for our practice), the NPV of the Afirma GEC test may not be as robust as suggested in the existing literature.
Phenylbutazone in the horse: a review.

Phenylbutazone is an acidic, lipophilic, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). It is extensively metabolized in the horse. The metabolites so far identified, oxyphenbutazone, gamma-hydroxyoxyphenbutazone, account for some 25-30% of administered dose over 24 h. The plasma half-life of phenylbutazone and termination of its pharmacological action are determined primarily by its rate of hepatic metabolism. Phenylbutazone acts by inhibiting the cyclooxygenase enzyme system, which is responsible for synthesis of prostanoids such as PGE2. It appears to act on prostaglandin-H synthase and prostacyclin synthase, after conversion by prostaglandin-H synthase to reactive intermediates. It markedly reduces prostanoid-dependent swelling, edema, erythema, and hypersensitivity to pain in inflamed tissues. Its principal use in the horse is for treatment of soft tissue inflammation. Phenylbutazone is highly bound (greater than 98%) to plasma protein. After i.v. injection, blood levels decline with an elimination half-life of 3-10 h. The plasma kinetics of phenylbutazone may be dose dependent, with the plasma half-life increasing as the drug dosage level increases. Plasma residues of the drug at 24 h after a single i.v. dose of 2 g/450 kg average about 0.9 microgram/ml, but considerable variation occurs. If dosing is repeated, the plasma residue accumulates to give mean residual blood levels of approximately 4.5 microgram/ml on Day 5 after 4 days of dosing. Approximately similar blood levels are found after a combination of oral and i.v. dosing. Experiments on large numbers of horses in training have been undertaken to ascertain the population distributions of residual blood levels after such dosing schedules. Absorption of phenylbutazone from the gastrointestinal tract is influenced by the dose administered and the relationship of dosing to feeding. Access to hay can delay the time of peak plasma concentration to 18 h or longer. Under optimal conditions, the bioavailability of oral phenylbutazone is probably in the region of 70%. Paste preparations may be more slowly absorbed than other preparations and yield higher residual plasma levels at 24 h after dosing, but further controlled studies are required. Phenylbutazone is easily detected in the plasma and urine of horses but concentrations in saliva are low. It is quantitated for forensic purposes by HPLC. The variability of this method between laboratories is about +/- 25%. Increasing urinary pH increases the urinary concentration of phenylbutazone and its metabolites up to 200-fold. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Beer Drinking Nations - The Determinants of Global Beer Consumption

In this paper we analyze the evolution of beer consumption between countries and over time. Historically, there have been major changes in beer consumption in the world. In recent times, per capita consumption has decreased in traditional " beer drinking nations" while it increased strongly in emerging economies. Recently, China has overtaken the US as the largest beer economy. A quantitative empirical analysis shows the relationship between income and beer consumption has an inverse U-shape. Beer consumption initially increases with rising incomes, but at higher levels of income beer consumption falls. Increased openness to trade and globalization has contributed to a convergence in alcohol consumption patterns across countries. In countries that were originally "beer drinking nations", the share of beer in total alcohol consumption reduced while this is not the case in countries which traditionally drank mostly wine or spirits. Climatic conditions, religion, and relative prices also influence beer consumption.
Multi-objective optimization of cellular fenestration by an evolutionary algorithm

This paper describes the multi-objective optimized design of fenestration that is based on the façade of the building being divided into a number of small regularly spaced cells. The minimization of energy use and capital cost by a multi-objective genetic algorithm was investigated for: two alternative problem encodings (bit-string and integer); the application of constraint functions to control the aspect ratio of the windows; and the seeding of the search with feasible design solutions. It is concluded that the optimization approach is able to find near locally Pareto optimal solutions that have innovative architectural forms. Confidence in the optimality of the solutions was gained through repeated trail optimizations and a local search and sensitivity analysis. It was also concluded that seeding the optimization with feasible solutions was important in obtaining the optimum solutions when the window aspect ratio was constrained.
Minimal disease assessment in the treatment of children and adolescents with intermediate‐risk (Stage III/IV) B‐cell non‐Hodgkin lymphoma: a children’s oncology group report

Children/adolescents with mature B‐cell non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (B‐NHL) have an excellent prognosis but relapses still occur. While chromosomal aberrations and/or clonal immunoglobulin (Ig) gene rearrangements may indicate risk of failure, a more universal approach was developed to detect minimal disease (MD). Children/adolescents with intermediate‐risk B‐NHL were treated with French‐British‐American/Lymphome Malins de Burkitt 96 (FAB/LMB96) B4 modified chemotherapy and rituximab. Specimens from diagnosis, end of induction (EOI), and end of therapy (EOT) were assayed for MD. Initial specimens were screened for IGHV family usage with primer pools followed by individual primers to identify MD. Thirty‐two diagnostic/staging specimens screened positive with primer pools and unique IGHV family primers were identified. Two patients relapsed; first relapse (4 months from diagnosis) was MD‐positive at EOI, the second (36 months from diagnosis) was MD‐positive at EOT. At EOI, recurrent rates were similar between the MRD‐positive and MRD‐negative patients (P = 0·40). At EOT, only 13/32 patients had MRD data available with one relapse in the MRD‐positive group and no recurrences in the MRD‐negative group (P = 0·077). The study demonstrated molecular‐disseminated disease in which IgIGHV primer pools could be used to assess MD. This feasibility study supports future investigations to assess the validity and significance of MD screening in a larger cohort of patients with intermediate‐risk mature B‐NHL.