Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adaptive cell nuclei detection from fluorescence images by optimizing object sizes

Although a few attempts were observed, there are high biological demands for the extraction of three dimensional cell nuclei from cellular images. Most common methods are manual and their results include subjective errors. Some other methods apply segmentation followed by centroid extraction. However, high dimensional segmentation is still unreliable, especially for biomedical images having juxtaposed cells. In this research, we propose direct method that exploits intensity distribution and object geometry to extract nuclei centroids from fluorescence microscopy images. A spatiotemporal adaptive multiscale filtering is applied for the object enhancement with noise suppression. A two-stage procedure is then followed. In Stage-1, we extract candidate centroids for the probable cell nuclei based on a local characteristic ratio (R) at every voxel. In Stage-2, an iterative procedure is proposed, which estimates approximate object radius from each candidate centroid by maximizing mean intensity gradients over successive pairs of regions in the enhanced image and removing smaller spurious objects. Investigations and quantitative analysis with a set 100 3D mouse embryo images reveal a promising performance of the proposed method in terms of average sensitivity and positional error, compared to an existing method.
Leverage Adjustment after Mergers and Acquisitions

Australian firms have leverage targets. Speeds of adjustment to a target capital structure are higher than previously published estimates when there are major disruptions to firms’ leverage ratios. Firms exploit company-specific characteristics to achieve these targets. Profitability and cash levels are important drivers of the speeds of adjustment. Firms, which have lower profitability or higher cash levels, appear to adjust faster.
Predicting rapid-growth SMEs through a reversal of credit-scoring principles

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the main variables distinguishing between high-growth firms and non-high-growth firms in the Italian manufacturing market. Specifically, we aim to establish which balance-sheet ratios enable us to distinguish between high-growth and non-high-growth firms. For this purpose, we employed a discriminant analysis on the financial data of two groups of firms selected from a population of approximately 22,000 firms. The results of the analysis indicate the roles of firm size, non-financial debt and internal cash flows in the growth and success of a firm. We adopt an innovative approach that considers financial statements issued the year prior to the observation of accelerated growth as predictive of this growth (as is used by credit-scoring models, i.e., the Z-Score model, to measure the probability of default).
From Corporatism to Liberalization in Zimbabwe: Economic Policy Regimes and Political Crisis, 1980–97

This article analyzes the shift from corporatist to liberal economic policy regimes in Zimbabwe that led to the crisis of the late 1990s. It outlines the rationale for both regimes, the reasons for their introduction and major achievements and failures, and how they contributed to the subsequent adoption of the dysfunctional policies of the late 1990s. It argues that the failures of both these regimes were avoidable, and the outcome of “political” rather than economic variables. It concludes by calling for economic policies that take more account of their political implications, and of the need to strengthen state capacity in weak states.
Implementation of Efficacy Enhancement Nursing Interventions with Cardiac Elders

&NA; Intervention strategies based on social cognitive theory and encompassing the bio‐psycho‐behavioral domains are proposed to enhance self‐efficacy in men and women 65 years and older recovering from myocardial infarction and coronary artery bypass grafting. This paper describes a study in which the theory‐based development of efficacy enhancement (EE) nursing interventions and their implementation and utilization with interventions from the Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) were used with cardiac elders in the treatment group of the community‐based randomized clinical trial, “Improving Health Outcomes in Unpartnered Cardiac Elders. ” Advanced practice nurses (APNs) provided the nursing intervention to 11 0 participants (mean age = 76.2, SD = 6.0) for the first 12 weeks after discharge to home. After an initial introductory meeting in the acute‐care setting, participant contacts by the APNs were made at a home visit and telephone calls at 2, 6, and 10 weeks. Results describe the number of participants receiving interventions at all contacts over 12 weeks, at specified contact points, and the intensity (nurse time) of the interventions. Verbal encouragement and mastery were EE interventions used with the greatest number of participants. Exercise promotion, energy management and active listening were NIC interventions used with the most participants. Variations in the use of interventions over 12 weeks and their intensities, suggest patterns of recovery in the elders. During rehabilitation EE interventions can be successfully implemented with men and women 65 years and older and individualized to the recovery trajectory. Nurses can integrate specific EE interventions with more general interventions from the bio‐psycho‐behavioral domains to enhance the recovery process for cardiac elders.
Theorising a democratic developmental state : issues of public service delivery planning and violent protests in South Africa

South Africa's impoverished settlements have in recent years been increasingly beset by violent protests that are, allegedly, about service delivery. However, the majority of these violent protests have paradoxically occurred exclusively in impoverished settlements where some services were delivered, disrupting the underlying infrastructure and existing services. Thus, the root causes of these violent protests remain contested, with views ranging from those that accept them as services-based to those portraying them as politically-motivated. This article analyses the service delivery planning approaches to distil the implications of the decisions as to which services are delivered or not delivered, and to theoretically situate the reasons underlying South Africa's violent "alleged" service delivery protests. It demonstrates that South Africa has adopted a regulatory planning approach which emphasises the attainment of "the optimal allocation of resources between all of the competing needs or uses within a society", leading therefore to the delivery of "impure public goods" for poor communities. The article argues that the advocacy planning approach is more suited to the impoverished settlements because it attempts to mobilise and channel resources to new or neglected uses, achieving in the process the legitimisation of new social objectives or a major re-alignment of existing objectives. Whereas the regulatory approach enforces reliance on private markets, the advocacy approach instigates for "the planner (who) represents the interests of a particular social group", with allegiances and responsibility solely dedicated to its needs. The article asserts that the advocacy planning approach would ensure that service delivery for impoverished settlements allows for equal access for all in terms of quality and quantity in accordance with four fundamental principles of 'joint-supply', 'non-rivalness', 'non-excludability' and 'non-rejectability'. The article concludes that South Africa's service delivery planning approach lacks a 'public entrepreneur' who would ensure that state agencies commit infrastructure expenditure to underpin the delivery of services as 'pure public goods'. Theoretically, the article claims that the decisions as to which services are delivered or not delivered are at the core of the reasons for the recent violent protests.
Arterial Calcification in Chronic Kidney Disease: Key Roles for Calcium and Phosphate

Vascular calcification contributes to the high risk of cardiovascular mortality in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Dysregulation of calcium (Ca) and phosphate (P) metabolism is common in CKD patients and drives vascular calcification. In this article, we review the physiological regulatory mechanisms for Ca and P homeostasis and the basis for their dysregulation in CKD. In addition, we highlight recent findings indicating that elevated Ca and P have direct effects on vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) that promote vascular calcification, including stimulation of osteogenic/chondrogenic differentiation, vesicle release, apoptosis, loss of inhibitors, and extracellular matrix degradation. These studies suggest a major role for elevated P in promoting osteogenic/chondrogenic differentiation of VSMC, whereas elevated Ca has a predominant role in promoting VSMC apoptosis and vesicle release. Furthermore, the effects of elevated Ca and P are synergistic, providing a major stimulus for vascular calcification in CKD. Unraveling the complex regulatory pathways that mediate the effects of both Ca and P on VSMCs will ultimately provide novel targets and therapies to limit the destructive effects of vascular calcification in CKD patients.
Editorial: Educating minds for the knowledge economy

Welcome to the second part of this double issue exploring ICT-driven change in higher education (HE). The prevailing theme of our papers, which were summarised in the editorial to volume 3.3, is accounts of transformational projects that leverage ICT to help HE offer affordable, high-quality mass education via e-learning. Now, one might think that affordable, high-quality mass education should align well with the envisioned role of HE within industrialised nations that competitively chase growth via knowledge-based economies (Evaline 2004). Unfortunately, we argue, while e-learning can support mass education, it can also replicate existing HE systems that are over reliant upon teaching which aims to transmit knowledge (cf. Adler 1996). This approach risks failing to equip graduates with the requisite skills to solve novel problems set by fast moving knowledge-based economies. Although approaches to redress this balance by incorporating research have long been available, for example action research (Lewin 1948; Dickens and Watkins 1999) and mode two (Gibbons et al. 1995), so far their impact in mainstream undergraduate teaching has been rather marginal. Recently, however the family of ‘enquiryand research-based’ approaches is starting to unify under the banner of enquiry-based learning (EBL), which is starting to gain traction in HE ( Jenkins 2007). Here, we acknowledge that the e-learning community have already played a substantial role in the seeding of EBL. However, we suggest that, as part of a sector-wide transformation, e-learning now needs to generate radical innovations in process and technology (see Rossiter this special issue) and thereby develop capacities for affordable, high-quality mass EBL. The World Bank acknowledges that knowledge-based economies require knowledge workers: ‘in industrial countries, where knowledgebased industries are expanding rapidly, labour market demands are changing accordingly’ (The World Bank Group 2005). Drucker’s concept of a knowledge worker (1959) is quite familiar (although we suggest it is something of a misnomer). Kelley summarises the term succinctly: knowledge ‘workers are hired for their problem solving abilities, creativity, talent and intelligence’ (Kelley 1990, p. 109). While knowledge is requisite to knowledge work, the creative application of that knowledge to research and solve new problems is the hallmark of the successful knowledge worker. In the sciences, we are already reasonably certain that human environmental impact will be an economic imperative throughout the 21st century (Stern 2006). Addressing such issues will require
Till and vegetation geochemistry at the Talbot VMS Cu-Zn prospect, Manitoba, Canada: implications for mineral exploration

The Proterozoic Talbot VMS occurrence in the Flin Flon-Snow Lake terrane is buried under more than 100 m of Palaeozoic dolomites and Quaternary glacial till. Structurally controlled anomalies of Zn, Cu, Ag, Pb, Au, Mn, Hg, Cd, Co, Bi and Se in the clay fraction of till depth-profiles indicate upward element migration from the buried volcanogenic massive sulphide mineralisation and near-surface chemostratigraphic deposition. Principal component analysis and molar element ratios indicate that separation of the <2 µm clay fraction reduces chemical heterogeneity and increases trace-element yield relative to the <250 µm fraction of the till. The greatest anomalies occur at or below 30 cm depth and over faults, suggesting that elements were deposited in the till after upward migration through structures. The ratio Zn/Al in the <250 µm fraction can be used as a proxy for Zn in the clay fraction, producing high-contrast anomalies. Carbon isotopic compositions indicate that these anomalies are related to organic carbon in the clay fraction. Humus, moss and black spruce bark are of limited use for exploration in this environment, because they accumulate atmospheric Pb and Cd, most likely from the Flin Flon smelter at 160 km NW. Black spruce tree rings that formed before smelter operations commenced indicate Zn and Mn anomalies in an uncontaminated sampling material. Much of the initial vertical migration of elements to the surface at the Talbot prospect was driven by upward advection of groundwater through fractures in the dolomite, resulting from a combination of subsurface karst collapse and remnant hydrostatic pressure during glacial retreat.
The Effect of Variable Electricity Tariffs in the Household on Usage of Household Appliances

Demand side management (DSM) has been discussed and investigated widely as a strategy to also influence residential energy consumption. Flexible energy tariffs are often proposed as a possible tool of DSM. However, real-life experience with this tool is rare. It was therefore the objective of this study to investigate under more realistic conditions how consumers are able and willing to adjust their residential energy consumption under the conditions of flexible energy tariffs with and without the support of intelligent smart appliances. Sixty-seven households in Germany within an experimental design with fictive tariff model (August 11 to July 12) driven by RWE Effizienz GmbH, as the energy utility, and Miele & Cie.KG, as the appliance manufacturer, were equipped with intelligent smart meters and 41 of them also with smart appliances (washing-machine and tumble-dryer). As a first part of the experiment, the energy tariff changed per hour and day by day, depending on the forecast of the availability of renewable energy in Germany between 10 €-Cent and 40 €-Cent per kWh. Consumers could respond to this change by adjusting the operation of their energyconsuming appliances either by themselves or—with the smart appliances—by a programmed start at low tariffs. The behaviour of the 41 consumers with smart appliances and their motivation are intensively investigated and analysed during this running two year project including several questionnaires. The consumers had to fill out daily a diary about the usage of their washing-machine, tumble-dryer, dishwasher and ironing devices. These data were matched with the actual tariff. This did allow identifying if and to which extend the consumers adjust their household activities depending on availability of solar and wind energy. These data were also used to calculate the cost savings by using the flexible tariff. In comparison to the costs of the fixed tariff of 25 €-Cent per kWh savings of 25% were realised on average. The results of a first phase already show that flexible tariffs are able to influence the operation of household appliances towards a flexible demand.
Upregulation of Thymosin β-10 by Mycobacterium bovis Infection of Bovine Macrophages Is Associated with Apoptosis

ABSTRACT Bovine macrophages underwent apoptosis as a result of infection with a Mycobacterium bovis field strain. Macrophages infected with a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 25:1 developed chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation at 4 h and 8 h, respectively, whereas changes in chromatin condensation induced by MOIs of 10:1 and 1:1 required more time and had a reduced number of apoptotic cells. Not only infected macrophages underwent apoptosis, but also uninfected bystander macrophages became apoptotic. Increased differential expression of thymosin β-10 was identified in M. bovis-infected bovine macrophages by differential display reverse transcriptase PCR. Phagocytosis of latex beads had no effect on the expression of thymosin β-10, whereas bacterial suspensions upregulated thymosin β-10 expression, suggesting that M. bovis or mycobacterial products are essential in the process. Heat-inactivated M. bovis induced a slight increase in thymosin β-10 mRNA, whereas live virulent and attenuated M. bovis organisms increased the gene expression almost twofold. A mouse macrophage cell line (RAW 264.7) overexpressing the bovine thymosin β-10 transgene had spontaneous apoptosis at a higher rate (66.5%) than parental cells (4.7%) or RAW cells harboring the empty vector (22.8%). The apoptotic rates of the overexpressing cells were significantly higher when compared with both the empty vector transfected (P < 0.01) and parental cells (P < 0.001). Our evidence suggests that upregulation of thymosin β-10 in M. bovis-infected macrophages is linked with increased cell death due to apoptosis.
Political Variables as Instruments: Are They Good Candidates?

The international literature on minimum wage greatly lacks empirical evidence from developing countries. In Brazil, not only are increases in the minimum wage large and frequent but also the minimum wage has been used as anti-inflation policy in addition to its social role. This paper estimates the effects of the minimum wage on employment using Brazilian data. A number of conceptual and identification questions are discussed as tentative explanation of the non-negative estimates found in the literature, for example: (1) The superiority of "spike" over "fraction affected" and "Kaitz index" as a minimum wage variable; (2) Political variables as excluded exogenous instruments; (3) Decomposition of the minimum wage employment effect into hours worked and number of jobs effects. (4) Informal and public sectors sorting robustness checks. Robust results to various alternative specifications and instrumental variables indicate that an increase in the minimum wage has moderately small adverse effects on employment.
The Child and Adolescent Trichotillomania Impact Project: Descriptive Psychopathology, Comorbidity, Functional Impairment, and Treatment Utilization

Objective: Trichotillomania (TTM) is associated with significant morbidity, comorbidity, and functional impairment in adults. Despite the fact that TTM is typically a pediatric onset disorder, important questions remain about its phenomenology, comorbid symptoms, functional impact, and treatment utilization in youth. The current study was designed to provide an initial description of these factors using a convenience sample. Method: An internet-based survey. Results: Surveys completed by 133 youth ages 10 to 17 were analyzed. Scalp hair was the most common pulling site, followed by eyelashes and eyebrows. The majority reported tension before pulling and gratification/relief immediately after pulling. Severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms were somewhat elevated, as measured by standard instruments, and correlated positively with the severity of TTM symptoms. Moderate impairment in social and academic functioning was reported. For those who had received treatment specifically for TTM, parent ratings indicated that few (17%) children and adolescents were either very much improved or much improved after intervention. Conclusions: This study represents the largest survey of youth with TTM conducted thus far, and thus provides the most comprehensive description of TTM in youth to date. Limitations: Data was obtained from an anonymous, Internet-based sample, and thus may not be generalizable to all youth with TTM.
Do Households Anchor their Inflation Expectations? - Theory and Evidence from a Household Survey

The purpose of the present paper is to study how households form inflation expectations. Using a novel survey-base dataset of Italian households’ opinions of inflation we investigate two separate, but related, types of behavior: ‘inattentiveness’ and ‘anchoring’. The present analysis extends the existing literature by incorporating explicitly inflation targets and distinguishing between aggregate and disaggregate dynamics based on demographic groups. In addition, we extend the literature by considering both the short- and long-run dynamics as households update their inflation expectations while also accounting for their state-varying behavior. All these issues provide important insights into understanding actual inflation dynamics and the conduct of monetary policy.
Information Systems Management

Information Security Threats and Practices in Small Businesses Shannon Keller b , Anne Powell a , Ben Horstmann c , Chad Predmore d & Matt Crawford e a Principal contact, is an assistant professor in the School of Business at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. She can be reached at apowell@siue.edu. b Currently a student at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. Previously, she was a network analyst for Monsanto Corporation. c A network coordinator d Technology Coordinator for the Korte Company in Highland, Illinois e Currently employed as a software engineer for Viziqor Solutions in Chesterfield, Missouri Published online: 21 Dec 2006.
Distribution of ABO blood groups in the patients with intracranial aneurysm and association of different risk factors with particular blood type

Introduction: The association between ABO blood groups and intracranial aneurysms is not well-known. Many co-morbid factors are associated with intracranial aneurysms. Our objective was to assess the prevalence of different blood group in patients with intracranial aneurysm and to look for associations between risk factors and these groups. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study includes 1,491 cases who underwent surgical operations for intracranial aneurysms from 1993-2014. We have evaluated the information related to clinical history, ABO blood groups and associated risk factors in the patients both ruptured and unruptured intracranial aneurysms by chart review of the cases. Results: In our study, out of 1,491 cases, the most common ABO blood groups were group O (668 cases, 44.80%) and Group A (603 cases, 40.44%), and Rh(+) in 1,319 (88.4%) and Rh(-) in 147 (11.6%). Blood Group A (43% vs. 36%) and Group B (16.2% vs. 8.6%) were significantly higher in Caucasian and African Americans respectively. However, in general population, there was no significant difference in blood groups between Caucasians and African Americans. Rh(-) factor was significantly higher in Caucasians compared to African Americans. Incidence of smoking was significantly higher in aneurysm patients with O group compared to others. In addition, incidence of hypercholesterolemia was significantly higher in aneurysm patients with A group compared to others. Conclusion: The racial disparity in the distribution of blood groups, and risk factor association with blood groups in the development of intracranial aneurysm needs to be considered. The findings from our study may be useful in identifying patients at increased risk. Further study may be required to establish the risks from multiple centers studies around the world.