Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The philosophical premises of the Second King Report on Corporate Governance : research article

Die filosofiese voorveronderstellings van die tweede King-verslag oor korporatiewe beheer Die fokus van hierdie artikel is die filosofiese voorveronderstellings van die tweede King-verslag oor korporatiewe beheer vir Suid-Afrika (voorts word na hierdie verslag verwys as die King II-verslag). Veral in die afdeling van die King II-rapport, getitel "Inleiding en agtergrond", is dit duidelik dat die verslag se voorveronderstellings berus op 'n spesifieke siening van hedendaagse korporasies en hulle morele verpligtings. Die doel van die artikel is om in die woorde van Charles Taylor 'n "act of retrieval" uit te voer waardeur die filosofiese voorveronder-stellings van die King II-verslag opgediep en blootgele word. Dit word beredeneer dat die onderliggende beskouing van hedendaagse korporasies in die King II-verslag terugherlei kan word na 'n aantal debatte oor die idee van hedendaagse korporasies en hulle morele verantwoordelikhede wat sedert die sewentigerjare na vore gekom het. Dit sal aangetoon word op watter wyse hierdie debatte die filosofiese grondslae bied vir die siening van hedendaagse korporasies en hulle morele verpligtings soos dit in die King II-verslag saam verbind word. Die aanspraak in die Verslag dat die Afrika-wereldbeskouing en -kultuur die Verslag se opvatting van korporatiewe beheer beinvloed het, word ook krities ondersoek. In die laaste instansie sal gepoog word om te evalueer tot watter mate die aanbevelings van die King II-verslag sy eie filosofiese voorveronderstellings gestand doen. This article focuses on the philosophical presuppositions of the second King Report on corporate governance for South Africa (hereafter referred to as the King II Report). Especially in the "Introduction and Background" section of the King II Report it is clear that the Report is premised upon a specific understanding of the present-day corporation and its moral obligations. The purpose of this article is to commit what Charles Taylor called "an act of retrieval" in which the philosophical premises of the King II Report will be unearthed and exposed. It will be argued that the view of the present-day corporation that underlies the King II Report could be related back to a number of debates on the notion of the comtemporary corporation and its moral responsibilities that have been played out since the 1970s. It will be indicated how these debates provide the philosophical foundations for the view of the comtemporary corporation and its moral obligations that is espoused in the King II Report. The claim made in the Report that the African world view and culture influenced the Report's notion of corporate governance will also be critically reviewed. Finally it will be attempted to evaluate to what extent the recommendations of the King II Report live up to its own philosophical premises.
Fermentative attributes of wilted vs. unwilted Digitaria eriantha silage treated with or without molasses at ensiling

Silages made from directly cut or wilted Digitaria eriantha treated with or without molasses were evaluated to determine fermentative characteristics. The grass was harvested at the boot stage of growth and the material was ensiled in 1 kg mini-silos. Treatments were arranged in a factorial design of two moisture levels (directly cut or wilted) and two molasses addition (with or without molasses). Each treatment was ensiled in 12 separate bottles. The pH of molasses added silage declined faster than the pH of silage without molasses. The pH of unwilted silages continued to decline up to day 120 post ensiling compared to wilted treatments. Lactic acid concentration was higher for molasses added silage than those made without molasses at all ensiling times, and also higher for directly cut silage than those wilted prior to ensiling. In direct cut silages, acetic acid concentration was lower for molasses added silage than those made without molasses at all ensiling times. In both silages, with or without molasses, the acetic acid concentrations were significantly higher for unwilted silage than silage wilted prior to ensiling. The ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) as percentage of total nitrogen (N) was higher in unwilted silage than prior wilted silage without molasses, while in the presence of molasses the effect of wilting on NH3-N as percentage of total N was not significant.
Optimization of a fermented soy product formulation with a kefir culture and fiber using a simplex-centroid mixture design

Abstract The objective of this work was to optimize a fermented soy product formulation with kefir and soy, oat and wheat fibers and to evaluate the fiber and product characteristics. A simplex-centroid mixture design was used for the optimization. Soymilk, soy, oat and wheat fiber mixtures, sucrose and anti-foaming agent were used for the formulation, followed by thermal treatment, cooling and the addition of flavoring. Fermentation was performed at 25 °C with a kefir culture until a pH of 4.5 was obtained. The products were cooled, homogenized and stored for analysis. From the mathematical models and variables response surface and desirability an optimal fermented product was formulated containing 3% (w/w) soy fiber. Compared with the other formulations, soy fermented product with 3% soy fiber had the best acidity, viscosity, syneresis, firmness and Lactococcus lactis count.
Genetic characterization of Northeast Asian cattle based on sequence polymorphisms in the complete mitochondrial genome

In this study, we analyzed complete mtDNA sequences variation and genetic relationship among taurine, indicine and Bison groups. In total, 107 sequences from different breeds, 45 European (45 Italian), 16 Middle East Asian (seven Iranian and nine Iraqi), 41 Northeast Asian (34 Korean and seven Japanese), two Nellore (Bos indicus) and two American Bison bison (Ame. bison) were obtained from Gen-Bank database. One Korean Hanwoo (Bos taurus) sequence was generated using the SOLiDTM System. In total, 1370 polymorphic sites, representing 8.39% of the complete 107 mtDNA sequences (16,338 bp) were detected and of these, 1186 parsimony informative polymorphic sites were identified. Neighbor-joining tree indicated that Korean, Japanese, Iranian, Iraqi, and Italian cattle were closely related to one another, but are separated from B. Bison. The B. taurus mtDNA polymorphism was greater in the D-loop than in the other regions. The ATP8, ND3, ND5, and ND6 regions were also quite parsimony informative, similar to Cyt b. In addition, this study revealed a distinct genetic difference between Korean cattle and B. indicus.
Rational rays and critical portraits of complex polynomials

The aim of this work is to describe the equivalence relations in $\Q/\Z$ that arise as the rational lamination of polynomials with all cycles repelling. We also describe where in parameter space one can find a polynomial with all cycles repelling and a given rational lamination. At the same time we derive some consequences that this study has regarding the topology of Julia sets.
Inequalities in Cancer Distribution in Tehran; A Disaggregated Estimation of 2007 Incidencea by 22 Districts

Background: Cancer is the third cause of death in Iran, with an increasing incidence projected for the next decade. This study aimed to provide a disaggregated viewpoint on cancer incidence in all 22 districts of Tehran, using the Geographic Information System (GIS). Identifying clusters of cancers may assist in recognizing the cause of the disease, visualizing patterns of cancer distribution, the potential disparities, and help in the provision of early detection programs and equitable, curative, and palliative services. Methods: According to the 2007 – 2008 Cancer Registry Data published by the Ministry of Health, there were 7948 new cancer cases diagnosed in Tehran. Data were collected from all pathology centers and hospitals, either public or private facilities, in Tehran. These were classified into 31 main categories according to the expert panels and available resources. The population of the districts and neighborhoods were obtained from the Iran Statistical Center and the Municipally of Tehran, respectively. Home addresses and phones were extracted from the database and imported to GIS. The Age-Standardized Rate (ASR) was calculated using both the new world standard population (2000 – 2025) and the Iran population. Results: Overall, the cancer incidence rate and ASR were 101.8 and 94.775 per 100,000 people, respectively. The maximum cancer incidence rates in both sexes were in districts 6, 3, 1, and 2, whereas, the maximum ASRs were in districts 6, 1, 2, and 3. District 6 accommodated the highest ASRs in both the sexes. Common cancers were breast, skin, colorectal, stomach, and prostate. The ASR in men and women were 129.954 and 114.546 per 100,000 population. Conclusion: This report provides an appropriate guide to estimate the cancer distribution within the districts of Tehran. Higher ASR in districts 6, 1, 2, and 3, warrant further research, to obtain robust population-based incidence data and also to investigate the background predisposing factors in the specified districts.
Phenomenal depth: A common phenomenological dimension in depression and depersonalization

Describing, understanding, and explaining subjective experience in depression is a great challenge for psychopathology. Attempts to uncover neurobiological mechanisms of those experiences are in need of theoretical concepts that are able to bridge phenomenological descriptions and neurocognitive approaches, which allow us to measure indicators of those experiences in quantitative terms. Based on our own ongoing work with patients who suffer from depersonalization disorder (DPD) and describe their experience as flat and detached from self, body, and world, we introduce the idea of phenomenal depth as such a concept. Phenomenal depth is conceptualized as a dimension inherent to all experiences, describing the relatedness of one’s self with one’s mental processes, body, and the world. More precisely, it captures the experience of this relatedness and embeddedness of one’s experiences, and it is thus a metaor secondorder experience. The psychopathology of DPD patients can be understood very generally as an instance of reduced phenomenal depth. We will argue that similar experiences in depression can also be understood as a reduction in phenomenal depth. We relate those ideas to neurocognitive studies of perception, emotion regulation, and the idea of predictive coding. Finally, we will speculate about possible Journal of Consciousness Studies, 20, No. 7–8, 2013, pp. 269–91 Correspondence: Division of Mind & Brain Research, Department of Psychiatry & Psychotherapy, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, D-10117 Berlin Email: Michael.Gaebler@charite.de [*] equal contribution C op yr ig ht ( c) Im pr in t A ca de m ic 2 01 3 F or p er so na l u se o nl y -n ot fo r re pr od uc tio n neurobiological underpinnings of the dimension of phenomenal
A randomized trial of A.C.T. (asthma care training) for kids.

A randomized control trial of a curriculum, A.C. T. (Asthma Care Training) for Kids, was conducted. Seventy-six children between the ages of 8 and 12 years, whose asthma required treatment with medications at least 25% of the days per month, were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. The control group received 4 1/2 hours of lecture presentations on asthma and its management. The experimental groups (consisting of four to seven children and their parents) received five 1-hour sessions comprising "the treatment. " Children and their parents were interviewed before the sessions and 3, 6, and 12 months after the completion of the experimental treatment. Use of emergency rooms and hospitals was determined by reviewing the records of these patients (all members of the Los Angeles Kaiser Permanente health care system) for the period of 1 year before and 1 year after the treatment. Results include (1) equivalent increases in knowledge and changes in beliefs in both groups, (2) significant changes in the self-reported compliance behaviors of the experimental group only, and (3) significant reductions in emergency room visits and days of hospitalization among those receiving the experimental treatment, compared with the control group. These changes represent an estimated savings of approximately $180 per child per year for those in the experimental group.
Low-Dose Oral Sirolimus and the Risk of Menstrual-Cycle Disturbances and Ovarian Cysts: Analysis of the Randomized Controlled SUISSE ADPKD Trial

Sirolimus has been approved for clinical use in non proliferative and proliferative disorders. It inhibits the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway which is also known to regulate ovarian morphology and function. Preliminary observational data suggest the potential for ovarian toxicity but this issue has not been studied in randomized controlled trials. We reviewed the self-reported occurrence of menstrual cycle disturbances and the appearance of ovarian cysts post hoc in an open label randomized controlled phase II trial conducted at the University Hospital Zürich between March 2006 and March 2010. Adult females with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, an inherited kidney disease not known to affect ovarian morphology and function, were treated with 1.3 to 1.5 mg sirolimus per day for a median of 19 months (N = 21) or standard care (N = 18). Sirolimus increased the risk of both oligoamenorrhea (hazard ratio [HR] 4.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1 to 29) and ovarian cysts (HR 4.4, CI 1.1 to 26); one patient was cystectomized five months after starting treatment with sirolimus. We also studied mechanisms of sirolimus-associated ovarian toxicity in rats. Sirolimus amplified signaling in rat ovarian follicles through the pro-proliferative phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway. Low dose oral sirolimus increases the risk of menstrual cycle disturbances and ovarian cysts and monitoring of sirolimus-associated ovarian toxicity is warranted and might guide clinical practice with mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00346918
Alternative Transcripts and 3′UTR Elements Govern the Incorporation of Selenocysteine into Selenoprotein S

Selenoprotein S (SelS) is a 189 amino acid trans-membrane protein that plays an important yet undefined role in the unfolded protein response. It has been proposed that SelS may function as a reductase, with the penultimate selenocysteine (Sec188) residue participating in a selenosulfide bond with cysteine (Cys174). Cotranslational incorporation of Sec into SelS depends on the recoding of the UGA codon, which requires a Selenocysteine Insertion Sequence (SECIS) element in the 3′UTR of the transcript. Here we identify multiple mechanisms that regulate the expression of SelS. The human SelS gene encodes two transcripts (variants 1 and 2), which differ in their 3′UTR sequences due to an alternative splicing event that removes the SECIS element from the variant 1 transcript. Both transcripts are widely expressed in human cell lines, with the SECIS-containing variant 2 mRNA being more abundant. In vitro experiments demonstrate that the variant 1 3′UTR does not allow readthrough of the UGA/Sec codon. Thus, this transcript would produce a truncated protein that does not contain Sec and cannot make the selenosulfide bond. While the variant 2 3′UTR does support Sec insertion, its activity is weak. Bioinformatic analysis revealed two highly conserved stem-loop structures, one in the proximal part of the variant 2 3′UTR and the other immediately downstream of the SECIS element. The proximal stem-loop promotes Sec insertion in the native context but not when positioned far from the UGA/Sec codon in a heterologous mRNA. In contrast, the 140 nucleotides downstream of the SECIS element inhibit Sec insertion. We also show that endogenous SelS is enriched at perinuclear speckles, in addition to its known localization in the endoplasmic reticulum. Our results suggest the expression of endogenous SelS is more complex than previously appreciated, which has implications for past and future studies on the function of this protein.
Robust Solvers for Square Jigsaw Puzzles

A jigsaw puzzle solver reconstructs the original image from a given collection of non-overlapping image fragments using their color and shape information. In this paper we introduce new techniques for solving square jigsaw puzzles (with no prior knowledge of the initial image) that improves the accuracy of the state-of-the-art jigsaw puzzle solvers. While the current puzzle solving techniques are based on finding enhanced compatibility metrics across piece boundaries, we combine the existing techniques to achieve higher accuracy and robustness, i.e., our solver outperforms the known solvers even when the piece boundaries are imprecise. Unlike the most successful puzzle solvers that use greedy pairwise compatibility metrics among puzzle boundaries, we incorporate global information that enhances performance. As a step towards the future goal of developing an automated assembler for real-life corrupted image fragments or shredded documents, we examine puzzles that are corrupted by noise. Our proposed compatibility metrics shows robustness even in such scenarios.
A qualitative study of limited access permit dental hygienists in Oregon.

Many states have adopted alternative oral health care delivery systems that include expanded roles for dental hygienists. This qualitative study was designed to evaluate the impact of the Limited Access Permit (LAP) legislation in Oregon and to understand the relationship between dental hygienists and dentists within this delivery system. The snowball sampling technique was used to identify LAP dental hygienists and collaborating dentists. The snowball sampling technique begins with the identification of a known expert in the field who serves as the initial "sampling unit. " Subsequent individuals are then recommended, or nominated, to the investigator by the initial study participant and are selected based upon the need to fill in or extend information. The final sample consisted of seven LAP dental hygienists and two collaborating dentists. Interviews, field observations, and document analysis were utilized for data collection. Factors that led to the creation of LAP dental hygiene practice, current LAP practice, personal characteristics, relationships between LAP dental hygienists and dentists, and the impact that LAP dental hygienists have had on access to oral health care were explored. Data revealed that the Oregon legislature twice expanded the LAP scope of practice to increase access to oral health care services. LAP dental hygienists practice in community and school-based settings. Common characteristics of LAP dental hygienists include entrepreneurship, lifelong learning, and a commitment to underserved populations. The findings from this study indicate that LAP dental hygienists and collaborating dentists have positive relationships. No evidence of lower quality of care in unsupervised dental hygiene practices was found. However, the impact of the LAP legislation is still unknown due to the limited numbers of LAP dental hygienists and the early nature of the LAP practice.
A theory of data.

At first glance, it would seem that we have an infinite way to collect data. Measuring the diameter of the earth by finding the distance to the horizon, measuring the height of waves produced by a nuclear blast by nailing (empty) beer cans to a palm tree, or finding Avogadro's number by dropping oil into water are techniques that do not require great sophistication in the theory of measurement. In psychology we can use self report, peer ratings, reaction times, psychophysiological measures such as the Electric Encephelagram (EEG), the basal level of Skin Conductance (SC), or the Galvanic Skin Response (GSR). We can measure the number of voxels showing activation greater than some threshold in a functional Magnetic Resonance Image (fMRI), or we can measure life time risk of cancer, length of life, risk of mortality, etc. Indeed, the basic forms of data we can collect probably are unlimited. But in fact, it is possible to organize these disparate forms of data in terms of an abstract organization in terms of what is being measured and in comparison to what. Because a number by itself is meaningless, all measures reflect a comparison between at least two elements. Without knowing the units of measure it is difficult to recognize that 37 C and 98.7 F represent the same average body tempature, that 24 (hours) and 86,400 (seconds) both represent one day, and that 365.256 (days) is the same length of time as 31,557,600 (seconds). The comparison can be one of order (which is more) or one of proximity (are the numbers the same or almost the same? ). Given a set of Objects (O) and a set of People (P) Clyde Coombs organized the types of measures one can take in a 2 x 2 x 2 table of the possible combinations of three distinct dimensions (Coombs, 1964). The elements may be drawn from the set of People (P), the set of Objects (O), or the Cartesian Cross Products of the sets of 1 e, pi, hours in day, average body temperature in C, average body temperature in F, days in a sidereal year, BTUs/KWH, seconds in a day, seconds in a year, speed of light in meters/sec, number of atoms in a mole (Avogadro's Number).
Impact of cross-protective vaccines on epidemiological and evolutionary dynamics of influenza

Large-scale immunization has profoundly impacted control of many infectious diseases such as measles and smallpox because of the ability of vaccination campaigns to maintain long-term herd immunity and, hence, indirect protection of the unvaccinated. In the case of human influenza, such potential benefits of mass vaccination have so far proved elusive. The central difficulty is a considerable viral capacity for immune escape; new pandemic variants, as well as viral escape mutants in seasonal influenza, compromise the buildup of herd immunity from natural infection or deployment of current vaccines. Consequently, most current influenza vaccination programs focus mainly on protection of specific risk groups, rather than mass prophylactic protection. Here, we use epidemiological models to show that emerging vaccine technologies, aimed at broad-spectrum protection, could qualitatively alter this picture. We demonstrate that sustained immunization with such vaccines could—through potentially lowering transmission rates and improving herd immunity—significantly moderate both influenza pandemic and seasonal epidemics. More subtly, phylodynamic models indicate that widespread cross-protective immunization could slow the antigenic evolution of seasonal influenza; these effects have profound implications for a transition to mass vaccination strategies against human influenza, and for the management of antigenically variable viruses in general.