Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transcriptional analyses of two mouse models of spina bifida.

BACKGROUND Spina bifida is one of the most common of all human structural birth defects. Despite considerable effort over several decades, the causes and mechanisms underlying this malformation remain poorly characterized. METHODS To better understand the pathogenesis of this abnormality, we conducted a microarray study using Mouse Whole Genome Bioarrays which have ~36,000 gene targets, to compare gene expression profiles between two mouse models; CXL-Splotch and FKBP8(Gt(neo)) which express a similar spina bifida phenotype. We anticipated that there would be a collection of overlapping genes or shared genetic pathways at the molecular level indicative of a common mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of spina bifida during embryonic development. RESULTS A total of 54 genes were determined to be differentially expressed (25 downregulated, 29 upregulated) in the FKBP8Gt((neo)) mouse embryos; whereas 73 genes were differentially expressed (56 downregulated, 17 upregulated) in the CXL-Splotch mouse relative to their wild-type controls. Remarkably, the only two genes that showed decreased expression in both mutants were v-ski sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (Ski), and Zic1, a transcription factor member of the zinc finger family. Confirmation analysis using quantitative real-time (qRT)-PCR indicated that only Zic1 was significantly decreased in both mutants. Gene ontology analysis revealed striking enrichment of genes associated with mesoderm and central nervous system development in the CXL-Splotch mutant embryos, whereas in the FKBP8(Gt(neo)) mutants, the genes involved in dorsal/ventral pattern formation, cell fate specification, and positive regulation of cell differentiation were most likely to be enriched. These results indicate that there are multiple pathways and gene networks perturbed in mouse embryos with shared phenotypes.
Financial Liberalisation, Bureaucratic Corruption and Economic Development

We study the e¤ect of international nancial integration on economic development when the quality of governance may be compromised by corruption. Our analysis is based on a dynamic general equilibrium model of a small economy in which growth is driven by capital accumulation and public policy is administered by governmentappointed bureaucrats. Corruption may arise due to the opportunity for bureaucrats to embezzle public funds, an opportunity that is made more attractive by nancial liberalisation which, at the same time, raises e¢ ciency in capital production. Our main results may be summarised as follows: (1) corruption is always bad for economic development, but its e¤ect is worse if the economy is open than if it is closed; (2) the incidence of corruption may, itself, be a¤ected by both the development and openness of the economy; (3) nancial liberalisation is good for development when governance is good, but may be bad for development when governance is bad; and (4) corruption and poverty may co-exist as permanent, rather than just transitory, xtures of an
Adhesion and growth rate of Clostridium cellulolyticum ATCC 35319 on crystalline cellulose

The rate of tritiated-thymidine incorporation into DNA was used to estimate Clostridium cellulolyticum H10 growth rates on Avicel cellulose, taking into consideration both the unattached cells and the cells adhered to the substrate. The generation time on cellobiose calculated from the data on cell density (4.5 h) agreed well with the generation time calculated by tritiated-thymidine incorporation (3.8 h). Growth on Avicel cellulose occurred when bacteria were adhered to their substrate; 80% of the biomass was detected on the cellulose. Taking into consideration attached and free bacteria, the generation time as determined by thymidine incorporation was about 8 h, whereas by bacterial-protein estimation it was about 13 h. In addition to the growth rate of the bacteria on the cellulose, the release of adhered cells constituted an important factor in the efficiency of the cellulolysis. The stage of growth influenced adhesion of C. cellulolyticum; maximum adhesion was found during the exponential phase. Under the conditions used, the end of growth was characterized by an acute release of biomass and cellulase activity from the cellulose. An exhaustion of the accessible cellulose could be responsible for this release.
The Influence of Centralization and Extent of Cross-Functional Team Usage on Senior Managers’ Risk-Related Perceptions

Despite the importance of managing risk taking in organizations, we know relatively little about how organizational design influences the risk-related perceptions of key organizational decision makers such as senior managers. This study examines how two basic organizational design variables—the extent to which organizations use cross-functional teams (CFTs) and the centralization of decision-making authority—interact to influence senior managers’ perceptions of the extent to which risk taking is supported within their organizations, in a new product development context. Regression results from a survey of 102 senior managers of various organizations in the United States and Norway find that extent of CFT use positively influences senior managers’ perceptions of organizational support for risk taking at low to moderate levels of decision-making authority. At high levels of senior manager authority, risk-related perceptions are not only more positive but also largely independent of the extent of CFT use.
Ethical and Professional Issues in the Implementation of Population‐Level Parenting Interventions

This article discusses various ethical and professional issues associated with the implementation of a public health approach to the implementation of parenting interventions. The Triple P System Population Trial in the United States and the Every Family Initiative in Australia both employ the Triple P–Positive Parenting Program as a multilevel public health intervention aimed at strengthening parenting and family support community-wide. Implications of this experience are discussed for the rollout of large-scale parenting programs, with particular attention to a self-regulation framework that is useful in dealing with professional issues. Examples drawn from these initiatives illustrate the interaction between ethical and professional issues and the broader sociopolitical and cultural context within which an intervention is delivered. A sampling of issues includes multidisciplinary and competitive work environments, ensuring adequate population reach, promotion of accurate program information, anticipating potential barriers, and addressing organizational considerations. © 2008 Society of Clinical Psychology.
Truancy, School Refusal and Anxiety

Truancy in French technical secondary schools is a source of considerable concern which has given rise to the present study. However, issues associated with truancy seldom take into account psychological criteria, as it tends to give rise to an immediate institutional reaction. However, truancy may not be solely the re.ection of a lack of motivation or oppositional de.ant disorder. On the contrary, truancy is considered here as a refusal to attend school in relation to different types of anxiety. Positive reinforcement, a category of school refusal de.ned by Kearney and Silverman (1993) was found to be prevalent in the study described here, re.ecting that a form of social desirability tended to hide an admitted and recognized anxiety. It is concluded that a deeper differential study based on psychological criteria is needed. We emphasize the need to conceive truancy, institutionally as well as scienti.cally, as a process that must take into account emotional dimensions.
The Role of Self-Reflection, Emotional Management of Feedback, and Self-Regulation Processes in Self-Directed Leadership Development

This article presents and explores a framework of self-directed leadership development (SDLD) to advance conceptual understanding and practical applications for self-development approaches to development of leaders in organizations. Drawing on a diversified literature associated with experiential learning, emotion research, and social cognitive theories of change, the nature of self-development is explored. It is argued that underpinning effective self-development is the integrated operation of three metaskills—skills that are required for the development of other skills—relating to one’s ability to manage emotional reactions to feedback, to carry out effectively the practice of self-reflection, and to enact self-regulatory processes for development. The SDLD framework extends formal organization-based leadership-development practices and integrates multiple processes to aid leaders and human resource development (HRD) practitioners in the promotion and enactment of leadership self-development. The framework also provides guidance for HRD research on self-development and a number of research implications are presented.
Religion/spirituality and quality of life of international tertiary students in New Zealand: an exploratory study

Previous research links religion/spirituality to beneficial health outcomes, but the majority of these studies used samples from populations with long-term illness or older people. The present study explored whether the links between religion/spirituality and quality of life can be observed in a sample of younger adults, and also whether religion/spirituality could function as a coping mechanism in international tertiary students who are often subjected to significant stressors related to acculturation and being away from their families. The sample consisted of 218 domestic and 164 international students at a New Zealand university who were given the quality of life inventory and the additional special module about spirituality/religion/personal beliefs, both developed by the World Health Organization in collaboration with many member states. Religion/spirituality was significantly correlated with psychological quality of life in both groups, and social quality of life in international students. The results also show that religion/spirituality might function as a coping mechanism in international students in response to stressors of acculturation.
Costa Rican children's perceptions of their social networks

Cultural differences in Costa Rican and U.S. children's perceptions of their relationships with social network members were examined. Fourth- and 6th-grade children (N=358) in both countries were given Furman and Buhrmester's (1985) Network of Relationships Inventory (NRI), which assessed 6 qualities of relationships (intimacy, conflict, companionship, affection, satisfaction, and instrumental aid) with 6 persons (mother, father, favorite sibling, favorite grandparent, same-sex best friend, and teacher)
POTENTIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT PREDISPOSITIONS: GENDER-BASED DIFFERENCES IN INDUCEMENT IMPORTANCE

A factorially-invariant three-factor measure of employment inducement importance demonstrates women (compared to men) value skill development, support, and reliability more highly. Variances and covariances of these beliefs also exhibited gender-based differences. Men and women hold conceptually similar but distinct perceptions of inducements, which may influence the development and evaluation of psychological contracts.
A UNIFIED FRAMEWORK FOR SOME INEXACT PROXIMAL POINT ALGORITHMS

We present a unified framework for the design and convergence analysis of a class of algorithms based on approximate solution of proximal point subproblems. Our development further enhances the constructive approximation approach of the recently proposed hybrid projection–proximal and extragradient–proximal methods. Specifically, we introduce an even more flexible error tolerance criterion, as well as provide a unified view of these two algorithms. Our general method possesses global convergence and local (super)linear rate of convergence under standard assumptions, while using a constructive approximation criterion suitable for a number of specific implementations. For example, we show that close to a regular solution of a monotone system of semismooth equations, two Newton iterations are sufficient to solve the proximal subproblem within the required error tolerance. Such systems of equations arise naturally when reformulating the nonlinear complementarity problem. *Research of the first author is suppo.
Stress and Cognitive Flexibility: Cortisol Increases Are Associated with Enhanced Updating but Impaired Switching

Acute stress has frequently been shown to impair cognitive flexibility. Most studies have examined the effect of stress on cognitive flexibility by measuring how stress changes performance in paradigms that require participants to switch between different task demands. These processes typically implicate pFC function, a region known to be impaired by stress. However, cognitive flexibility is a multifaceted construct. Another dimension of flexibility, updating to incorporate relevant information, involves the dorsal striatum. Function in this region has been shown to be enhanced by stress. Using a within-subject design, we tested whether updating flexibility in a DMS task would be enhanced by an acute stress manipulation (cold pressor task). Participants' cortisol response to stress positively correlated with a relative increase in accuracy on updating flexibility (compared with trials with no working memory interference). In contrast, in line with earlier studies, cortisol responses correlated with worse performance when switching between trials with different task demands. These results demonstrate that stress-related increases in cortisol are associated with both increases and decreases in cognitive flexibility, depending on task demands.
Assessment of employees' perceptions of service quality and satisfaction with e-business

In the competitive environments of frequent and rapid changes, electronic business (e-business), whose supply, production, and logistics and distribution networks are enabled digitally, is increasingly dependent on electronic interconnections that are innovative in their functionality. Conceivably, its ability to deliver functions and services is closely associated with and helpful for the completion of employees' tasks and jobs, leading to service quality being critically important for the employees and e-business. On the other hand, since e-business utilizes enterprise applications, user satisfaction, as a surrogate measure of information system or information technology (IS/IT) effectiveness/success, is important for enterprise applications success. Thus, this research attempts to extrapolate the results of marketing research about customers' perceptions of service quality and IS/IT research about employees' perceptions of service quality to e-business. First, we revise and refine SERVQUAL instrument to fit in context of e-business and measure employees' perceived service quality with e-business. Based on a survey of 161 respondents practicing mostly in seven international electronic businesses in Taiwan, a 13-item EB-SERVQUAL instrument is proposed and can be used to improve and diagnose service quality with e-business. Second, we examine the causal relationship between service quality and user satisfaction. The instrument and our findings in this paper would be valuable to researchers and practitioners interested in designing, implementing, and managing e-business.
Neural representation of three-dimensional acoustic space in the human temporal lobe

Sound localization is an important function of the human brain, but the underlying cortical mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we recorded auditory stimuli in three-dimensional space and then replayed the stimuli through earphones during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). By employing a machine learning algorithm, we successfully decoded sound location from the blood oxygenation level-dependent signals in the temporal lobe. Analysis of the data revealed that different cortical patterns were evoked by sounds from different locations. Specifically, discrimination of sound location along the abscissa axis evoked robust responses in the left posterior superior temporal gyrus (STG) and right mid-STG, discrimination along the elevation (EL) axis evoked robust responses in the left posterior middle temporal lobe (MTL) and right STG, and discrimination along the ordinate axis evoked robust responses in the left mid-MTL and right mid-STG. These results support a distributed representation of acoustic space in human cortex.
Lemma selection without inhibition of languages in bilingual speakers

The planning of speech involves making successive choices in a hierarchy of options. In the case of bilingualism, these options are provided by two lexicons and grammars rather than one internalized by a speaker. Conceptualization processes map a communicative intention onto a message indicating the conceptual information to be verbalized to reach a speaker's communicative goal. In bilinguals, the illocutionary intention may be to express oneself in one language rather than the other, or to mix languages. Formulation processes activate and select lemmas and forms for the message concepts, and plan a syntactic and a morphophonological structure. Lemmas specify the syntactic properties of words, crucial for their use in sentences. The result of formulation is an articulatory program, which, when executed by articulation processes, yields overt speech. A central theoretical problem is how bilingual speakers manage to keep the options provided by the two languages apart in monolingual conversation, and how speakers are able to integrate the options in bilingual conversation where language mixing (i.e., code-switching or borrowing) may take place.
Low-Frequency High-Magnitude Mechanical Strain of Articular Chondrocytes Activates p38 MAPK and Induces Phenotypic Changes Associated with Osteoarthritis and Pain

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating joint disorder resulting from an incompletely understood combination of mechanical, biological, and biochemical processes. OA is often accompanied by inflammation and pain, whereby cytokines associated with chronic OA can up-regulate expression of neurotrophic factors such as nerve growth factor (NGF). Several studies suggest a role for cytokines and NGF in OA pain, however the effects of changing mechanical properties in OA tissue on chondrocyte metabolism remain unclear. Here, we used high-extension silicone rubber membranes to examine if high mechanical strain (HMS) of primary articular chondrocytes increases inflammatory gene expression and promotes neurotrophic factor release. HMS cultured chondrocytes displayed up-regulated NGF, TNFα and ADAMTS4 gene expression while decreasing TLR2 expression, as compared to static controls. HMS culture increased p38 MAPK activity compared to static controls. Conditioned medium from HMS dynamic cultures, but not static cultures, induced significant neurite sprouting in PC12 cells. The increased neurite sprouting was accompanied by consistent increases in PC12 cell death. Low-frequency high-magnitude mechanical strain of primary articular chondrocytes in vitro drives factor secretion associated with degenerative joint disease and joint pain. This study provides evidence for a direct link between cellular strain, secretory factors, neo-innervation, and pain in OA pathology.
Enrollment of Education Majors at Public, Not-for-Profit, and For-Profit Postsecondary Institutions: An Empirical Analysis.

This article offers a quantitative analysis of the growth of for-profit provision of teacher education in the United States. Data from all Title-IV-aid-participating institutions from 1996 to 2008 is analyzed to provide a comprehensive overview of the relative changes in enrollments of education majors at public, not-for-profit, and for-profit 4-year-and-above institutions. For-profits enroll a small, but rapidly expanding share of the education majors. Several possible reasons for the large increase in for-profit enrollments are explored and potential implications for teacher preparation are discussed. Concerns about the for-profit provision of teacher education are reviewed in light of this new data.
Can variation in mother–child interaction be explained by context and collectivistic attitudes?

Focusing on mother–child verbal interactions in two different contexts, the present study examined whether differences in maternal conversational style could be explained by children's linguistic and conversational abilities and by the mothers' expressed attitudes to collectivism. To this end, 20 Estonian mothers were videotaped with their 6-year-old children during mealtime and puzzle solving, and they were asked to fill in a questionnaire on collectivistic attitudes. The results showed that the mothers' frequency of engaging children in conversation was not related to the children's linguistic and conversational abilities. The children talked more and spoke more complexly during puzzle solving. The context had a great influence on the maternal regulatory speech. Contrary to the expectations, mothers who scored higher in collectivism were not more directive; instead, they tended to be more talkative.
Resilience in Business and Management Research: A Review of Influential Publications and a Research Agenda

This paper identifies the development of and gaps in knowledge in business and management research on resilience, based on a systematic review of influential publications among 339 papers, books and book chapters published between 1977 and 2014. Analyzing these records shows that resilience research has developed into five research streams, or lines of enquiry, which view resilience as (1) organizational responses to external threats, (2) organizational reliability, (3) employee strengths, (4) the adaptability of business models or (5) design principles that reduce supply chain vulnerabilities and disruptions. A review of the five streams suggests three key findings: First, resilience has been conceptualized quite differently across studies, meaning that the different research streams have developed their own definitions, theories and understandings of resilience. Second, conceptual similarities and differences among these streams have not yet been explored, nor have insights been gleaned about any possible generalizable principles for developing resilience. Third, resilience has been operationalized quite differently, with few insights into the empirics for detecting resilience to future adversity (or the absence thereof). This paper outlines emerging research trends and pathways for future research, highlighting opportunities to integrate and expand on existing knowledge, as well as avenues for further investigation of resilience in business and management studies.
Development of image reconstruction using FPGA

This paper presents the development of image reconstruction for optical tomography using Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) board, DE0 Nano. This design eliminated the need of computer in image reconstruction stage. Therefore, this will simplify the overall design, where the image will be displayed on an Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) only and this could make the system more portable compare to the existing design of an optical tomography system. Experimental result shows that the developed system can process image in real time as the FPGA is a type of parallel computation controller.