Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Opposing Role for Egr3 in Nucleus Accumbens Cell Subtypes in Cocaine Action

An imbalance in molecular signaling cascades and transcriptional regulation in nucleus accumbens (NAc) medium spiny neuron (MSN) subtypes, those enriched in dopamine D1 versus D2 receptors, is implicated in the behavioral responses to psychostimulants. To provide further insight into the molecular mechanisms occurring in MSN subtypes by cocaine, we examined the transcription factor early growth response 3 (Egr3). We evaluated Egr3 because it is a target of critical cocaine-mediated signaling pathways and because Egr3-binding sites are found on promoters of key cocaine-associated molecules. We first used a RiboTag approach to obtain ribosome-associated transcriptomes from each MSN subtype and found that repeated cocaine administration induced Egr3 ribosome-associated mRNA in NAc D1-MSNs while reducing Egr3 in D2-MSNs. Using Cre-inducible adeno-associated viruses combined with D1-Cre and D2-Cre mouse lines, we observed that Egr3 overexpression in D1-MSNs enhances rewarding and locomotor responses to cocaine, whereas overexpression in D2-MSNs blunts these behaviors. miRNA knock-down of Egr3 in MSN subtypes produced opposite behavioral responses from those observed with overexpression. Finally, we found that repeated cocaine administration altered Egr3 binding to promoters of genes that are important for cocaine-mediated cellular and behavioral plasticity. Genes with increased Egr3 binding to promoters, Camk2α, CREB, FosB, Nr4a2, and Sirt1, displayed increased mRNA in D1-MSNs and, in some cases, a reduction in D2-MSNs. Histone and the DNA methylation enzymes G9a and Dnmt3a displayed reduced Egr3 binding to their promoters and reduced mRNA in D1-MSNs. Our study provides novel insight into an opposing role of Egr3 in select NAc MSN subtypes in cocaine action.
Randomized trials in 2466 patients with stage I seminoma: patterns of relapse and follow-up.

BACKGROUND From July 1, 1989, through March 31, 2001, 2466 patients with stage I seminoma were evaluated in three randomized noninferiority trials: the TE10, TE18, and TE19 trials. We analyzed mature results of these studies. METHODS The TE10 trial randomly assigned 478 patients to para-aortic and ipsilateral iliac lymph node (dogleg field) or para-aortic only radiation therapy (total dose = 30 Gy). The TE18 trial randomly assigned 1094 patients to a total dose of 30 or 20 Gy of radiation therapy, predominantly to a para-aortic field. The TE19 trial randomly assigned 1477 patients to radiation therapy or a single injection of carboplatin at a dose of seven times the area under the curve. Time to relapse was determined from Kaplan-Meier curves, and such data were compared by use of Cox regression models. Noninferiority in TE18 and TE19 required the upper limit of the 90% confidence intervals (CIs) (reflecting the one-sided test for noninferiority at a 5% statistical significance level) to exclude a hazard ratio (HR) of greater than 2.0 and a doubling of the 5-year relapse rates observed in the control arm. The TE10 trial was not powered to exclude clinically relevant differences in overall relapse rates but was assessed against the same criteria. RESULTS Median follow-up times were 6.4-12 years in the three trials. We identified the noninferiority of the following treatments: 20 Gy of radiation therapy in the TE18 trial (HR of relapse = 0.63, 90% CI = 0.38 to 1.04) and carboplatin in the TE19 trial (HR of relapse = 1.25, 90% CI = 0.83 to 1.89). Para-aortic radiation therapy in the TE10 trial was associated with a hazard ratio of relapse of 1.15 (90% CI = 0.54 to 2.44). Relapse occurred after 3 years in only four (0.2%) of all 2466 patients. Computed tomography scans had little impact on the detection of relapse after radiation therapy; seven of the 904 patients allocated radiation therapy in TE19 had a relapse detected by this method. CONCLUSION This large and mature dataset from three randomized trials has provided support for the use of either radiation therapy or carboplatin therapy as adjuvant treatment for stage I seminoma.
Variation of pitch accent patterns in Hungarian

In Hungarian, focussed elements occur in certain syntactic positions. Because of this limitation, prominence marking by means of prosody is less salient than in languages where focus can be expressed by accent shift without changes in word order. In this study, we examined Hungarian utterances that were identical in their segmental structure, but differed with regard to their semantic and pragmatic interpretations. Our aim was to see to what extent prosodic prominence marking is used, and which pitch accent patterns can occur in different sentence positions in this language. We found that (1) deaccentuation of content words was relatively seldom, (2) accented words were often preceded by a break, (3) the number of accent distribution patterns was limited, as was the number of (4) pitch accent types in utterance-initial and -final position: initially, late peaks dominated, whereas in final position most accent tones were falling ones. We argue that these uniform patterns are probably due to neutralisation processes.
Lead-Free and PbSn Bump Electromigration Testing

As the electronics industry continues to push for miniaturization, several reliability factors become vital issues. The demand for a high population of smaller and smaller solder bumps, while also increasing the current, have resulted in a significant increase in the current density. As outlined in the International Technology of Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS), this trend makes electromigration the limiting factor in high density packages. The heightened current density and correspondingly elevated operating temperatures are a critical issue in reliability since these factors facilitate the effects of electromigration. Therefore, as bump sizes continue to decrease, the study of electromigration reliability becomes crucial in order to understand and possibly prevent the causes of failure. A systematic study of electromigration in eutectic SnPb and Pb-free solder bumps was conducted in order to characterize the reliability of the Micro SMD package family. The testing includes both eutectic 63Sn-37Pb and 95.5Sn4. 0Ag-0.5Cu solder bumps on an Al/Ni(V)/Cu under-bump-metallization. Mean-time-to-failure results are compared to Black’s Equation and cross-sections of the solder bumps are shown to analyze the mechanisms that led to failure.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Assessment of Health Status in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Subject Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common disease worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the health status of patients with newly diagnosed COPD. Methods A total of 45 healthy controls and 218 patients with newly diagnosed COPD were recruited. Pulmonary function test (PFT) values, COPD assessment test (CAT) scores, exacerbation history, and demographics were recorded. Results Forced expiratory volume in 1 s percent (FEV1%) predicted was significantly decreased and the CAT score was significantly increased in patients with COPD compared with healthy controls (P <0.001). Among the COPD patients, the most commonly reported respiratory symptoms were cough (86.7%), sputum (80.3%), and dyspnea (45%). A total of 86.2% patients were in the moderate or severe stage (spirometric classification) of COPD, and 71.5% were in Group C or Group D (combined assessment). A total of 33.9% of the patients had 2 or more exacerbations in the previous year. Nearly half of the patients (45.4%) had a high CAT score of ≥10. Patients with a history of more exacerbations had a higher CAT score. Conclusions Most COPD patients were symptomatic and appeared to have moderate to severe airflow limitation or a high risk of exacerbation before definitely being diagnosed with COPD using the PFT.
Women's leadership development: a case study involving Iowa's community colleges and the Leadership Institute for a New Century

viii CHAPTER L INTRODUCTION 1 Background 1 Need for the Study 4 Statement of the Problem 6 Purpose of the Study 8 Research Questions 9 Data Sources 10 Definitions 11 Limitations of the Study 17 Assumptions 19 Significance of the Study 20 Dissertation Overview 21 CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 23 Introduction 23 Defining Leaders and Leadership 23 Defining Administrative Leadership 23 Characteristics and Personality Traits 25 Leadership Behaviors and Skills 26 Situational and Contingency Approaches 28 Power and Influence Theories 30 Cultural and Symbolic Theories 33 Cognitive Theories 33 Community College Leadership 33 History and Characteristics 34 Leadership and Governance Models 36 Current Leadership Needs and Issues 37 Leadership Development 38 The Need for Leadership Development 39 Paths and Processes for Leadership Development 40 Leadership Development Programs 43 Ways to Supplement Leadership Development Programming 47 Women and Leadership 48 Concerns and Issues of Women Leaders 48 Barriers and Challenges 50
Business Cycles, Economic Crises, and the Poor: Testing for Asymmetric Effects

This paper examines whether output contractions associated with cyclical output fluctuations and economic crises have an asymmetric effect on poverty. The first part identifies four potential sources of asymmetry: expectations and confidence factors; credit rationing at the firm level (induced by either adverse selection problems or negative shocks to net worth); borrowing constraints at the household level; and the “labor hoarding” hypothesis. Some testable implications of these alternative explanations are also identified. The second part proposes a vector autoregression technique (involving the detrended components of real output, the unemployment rate, real wages, and the poverty rate) to test whether the initial cyclical position of the economy, and the magnitude of the initial drop in the output gap in a downturn, matter in assessing the extent to which output shocks affect poverty. The technique is then applied to Brazil, using annual data for the period 1981-99. The results indicate that poverty responds asymmetrically to output shocks, showing less sensitivity when the economy is initially in a downturn.
Preparation and Socialization of the Education Professoriate: Narratives of Doctoral Student-Instructors.

This study examined the socialization and preparation of future education faculty by exploring narratives of 17 doctoral student-instructors at a large, public, research-oriented university. Data were collected in semi-structured interviews followed by member checks to verify and clarify understandings and interpretations. Participants’ experiences were analyzed in a three dimensional inquiry space to identify both common and divergent narrative themes. Findings underscore the importance of faculty mentorship and highlight participants’ changing expectations and career goals. Implications emphasize individual and collaborative opportunities for improvement by multiple stakeholders in the doctoral education enterprise, including recommendations for both short and long term curricular practices.
Efficacy of 3 techniques in removing root canal filling material.

OBJECTIVE Retreatment of a root canal in the case of infection requires complete removal of previous filling material. This study evaluated the efficacy of 3 techniques in removing laterally compacted Resilon/Epiphany and gutta-percha/AH Plus from straight and curved canals during retreatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS Extracted human teeth (90 maxillary anterior teeth with single,straight root canals and 90 mandibular molars with mesial canal root curvatures of 20 degrees to 35 degrees ) were divided into 6 groups each consisting of 15 straight and 15 curved root canals. Three groups were obturated using gutta-percha/AH Plus and 3 were obturated with Resilon/Epiphany. After 3 weeks storage at 37 degrees C and 100% humidity, all root canal fillings were removed using a Gates Glidden drill, a Gates Glidden drill plus chloroform or a System B device. RESULTS For all removal techniques, specimens obturated with gutta-percha/AH Plus showed significantly more remnants of obturation material than specimens filled with Resilon/Epiphany for both straight and curved canals (p < 0.05). Removal time was shorter for Resilon/Epiphany than gutta-percha/AH Plus filling for all techniques and for both curved and straight canals. The Gates Glidden drill and Gates Glidden drill plus chloroform removal techniques were significantly faster than the System B technique for both straight and curved canals. The Gates Glidden drill technique was best for straight canals, whereas the Gates Glidden drill plus chloroform was the best technique for curved canals when removing Resilon/Epiphany sealer. CONCLUSIONS Removal of Resilon/Epiphany filling resulted in fewer remnants and was faster than gutta-percha/AH Plus removal using a Gates Glidden drill with or without chloroform in both straight and curved canals.
Using partial least squares approach to predict the impact of transformational leadership on employee commitment to organizational change

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between transformation leadership and employee commitment to organizational change by utilization Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach. Data were collected through a survey among employees who work in a Yemeni public sector organization.The finding showed that idealized influence and individual consideration were found significantly and positively related to all dimensions of employee commitment to change. While the inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation have different finding with each dimensions.The limitations of this study may include several issues that may lead to future studies.This study contributes to the change management literature by integrating the linkage between leadership and employee commitment to change.It is the first study conducted by using PLS with stated model and conducted in least developed country, such as Yemen.
AutoFix: an automated approach to memory leak fixing on value-flow slices for C programs

C is the most widely used programming language for developing embedded software, operating systems, and device drivers. Unlike programs written in managed languages like Java, C programs rely on explicit memory management, and are therefore prone to memory leaks. Existing (static or dynamic) debugging tools only report leaks, but fixing them often requires considerable manual effort by inspecting a list of reported true and false alarms. How to develop on-demand lightweight techniques for automated leak fixing without introducing new memory errors remains challenging. In this paper, we introduce AutoFix, a fully automated leak-fixing approach for C programs by combining static and dynamic program analyses. Given a leaky allocation site reported by a static memory leak detector, AutoFix performs a graph reachability analysis to identify leaky paths on the value-flow slices of the program, and then conducts a liveness analysis to locate the program points for inserting fixes (i.e., the missing free calls) on the identified leaky paths. We have implemented AutoFix in LLVM-3.5. 0 and evaluated it using five SPEC2000 benchmarks and three open-source applications. Experimental results show that AutoFix can safely fix all the memory leaks reported by a state-of-the-art static memory leak detector with small instrumentation overhead.
Unexpected peak near −15°C in CloudSat echo top climatology

We examine a radar‐derived climatology of Earth's cloudiness, focusing on the vertical distribution echo tops. Between the two main peaks at ∼2 km and ∼14 km associated with low and high clouds, respectively, lie two distinct midlevel peaks in the tropics. One is in the 5–6 km layer, the other between 7 and 8 km. Both are seen day and night, over land and sea, over each tropical ocean basin, and in published ground radar climatology. In the extratropics, the vertical echo top distribution by temperature reveals a strikingly sharp peak in the −15 to −20°C layer (corresponding to the 7–8 km peak in the tropics). Again the signal is robust (night‐day, land‐sea, summer‐winter). We consider interpretations of the −15°C peak ranging from data artifacts (unlikely), to mere radar brightening, to possible true microphysical or dynamical cloudiness enhancement mechanisms.
For-profit social entrepreneurship : a study of resources, challenges, and competencies in UK

Social Entrepreneurship has received increasing attention over the years. However, little is known about the different business models of social enterprises and how they can be run effectively to realise their full potential (Prabhu, 1999; Nicholls, 2006). Moreover, empirical research has largely focused on non-profit social value creation while the for-profit context of social entrepreneurship has received less attention (Dees, 1998). Therefore, research within the for-profit context can contribute strongly to the advancement of the field, whereby exploring the challenges for-profit social enterprises face is an important research task which will, among other things, shed more light on how they overcome resource constraints. To address these research opportunities, this thesis analyses twelve social enterprises in the UK through original semi-structured interviews, observations, and archival research. It adopts a resource-based lens and employs an interpretivist approach to gain new insights. With close reference to extant SE literature as well as entrepreneurial capital and bricolage theory, the research identifies three specific challenges experienced by social enterprises operating within the for-profit context. These challenges - that spring from a 'double bottom line' configuration - are: (1) successfully positioning a for-profit social enterprise along the enterprise spectrum; (2) maintaining a balanced focus on contrasting objectives; (3) and countering pressures to compromise on objectives. The present study also critically extends the theory of social bricolage as the findings show that creativity, social skills, resilience and adaptability comprise key competencies that enable bricolage activity by for-profit social enterprises. The surveyed social enterprises have extensively leveraged these competencies while navigating resource scarce environments. The identification of such particular competencies is one significant theoretical contribution the thesis makes to both bricolage theory and the broader social entrepreneurship literature. The study furthermore makes a general contribution to the study of for-profit social entrepreneurship, an outstanding gap in the field.
A Sodium-Pump-Mediated Afterhyperpolarization in Pyramidal Neurons

The sodium-potassium ATPase (i.e., the “sodium pump”) plays a central role in maintaining ionic homeostasis in all cells. Although the sodium pump is intrinsically electrogenic and responsive to dynamic changes in intracellular sodium concentration, its role in regulating neuronal excitability remains unclear. Here we describe a physiological role for the sodium pump in regulating the excitability of mouse neocortical layer 5 and hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons. Trains of action potentials produced long-lasting (∼20 s) afterhyperpolarizations (AHPs) that were insensitive to blockade of voltage-gated calcium channels or chelation of intracellular calcium, but were blocked by tetrodotoxin, ouabain, or the removal of extracellular potassium. Correspondingly, the AHP time course was similar to the decay of activity-induced increases in intracellular sodium, whereas intracellular calcium decayed at much faster rates. To determine whether physiological patterns of activity engage the sodium pump, we replayed in vitro a place-specific burst of 15 action potentials recorded originally in vivo in a CA1 “place cell” as the animal traversed the associated place field. In both layer 5 and CA1 pyramidal neurons, this “place cell train” generated small, long-lasting AHPs capable of reducing neuronal excitability for many seconds. Place-cell-train-induced AHPs were blocked by ouabain or removal of extracellular potassium, but not by intracellular calcium chelation. Finally, we found calcium contributions to the AHP to be temperature dependent: prominent at room temperature, but largely absent at 35°C. Our results demonstrate a previously unappreciated role for the sodium-potassium ATPase in regulating the excitability of neocortical and hippocampal pyramidal neurons.
Capital structure choices

This thesis contain three chapters.Default Risk in Corporate Bond Pricing. This chapter provides a model for how the corporate bond default risk influences the systematic risk and an empirical analysis of the systematic and idiosyncratic parts of U.S. corporate bond returns during 2001-2005. The average corporate bond beta is low and positive (0.06). Investment grade bonds have negative betas (between - 0.01 and -0.13) and non-investment grade bonds have positive betas (between 0.11 and 1.48), but both groups have similar within groups systematic risks. When controls for interest rate and liquidity risks are introduced there are still remaining default probabilities, implying that the default risk is in part systematic and in part idiosyncratic. Returns to Defaulted Corporate Bonds. In the second chapter short term excess returns in a sample of 279 defaulted US corporate bonds are tested for using multiple regression analysis. There are robust excess returns after controlling for market and liquidity risk. The expected recovery rate during 2001-2006 is estimated to be, on average, four percentage points lower the first month after default than the present value of the recovery rate after nine months.Capital Structure Choices. The trade-off and pecking order theories are tested using both established tests from the literature and new tests. The main contributions of this chapter are the new tests of financing of operating net assets (for the pecking order theory), the mean reversion tests (for the trade-off theory) and the test of mean reversion and trends. These tests allow for extended conclusions on the validity of the pecking order versus the tradeoff theory.