Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
From exports to sell in China: transformation of the export-oriented furniture firms in the Pearl River Delta

ABSTRACT Since the late 2000s, particularly after the 2008 global financial crisis, the export-oriented firms in China’s coastal regions, for example, the Pearl River Delta (PRD) have engaged in selling their products in China’s domestic market as an alternative strategy in response to the decline of export orders from the Western advanced economies on the one hand and rise of domestic consumption in China on the other. Drawing upon the firm-specific strategies in the Global Production Networks (GPN) 2.0 theory, this paper examines the firm-specific strategies adopted by the export-oriented furniture firms in Dongguan, a well-known furniture cluster in the PRD, in their engagement of selling their products in China’s domestic market. Based on extensive field investigation particularly in-depth interviews with furniture firms, various domestic retailers and government officials during the period of May 2013 and April 2017, the paper argues that the prevailed export-oriented furniture firms have strategically recoupled with China’s domestic market through developing inter-firm partnerships with domestic chain retailers, intra-firm coordination with direct-sale stores and online shops, as well as inter-firm bargaining with individual retailers. The study enriches the GPN literature through incorporating domestic retailers, especially their strategic partnerships with the export-oriented furniture firms in exploring domestic markets in the global south.
Domain coarsening in thin films

We rigorously derive a mean-field model for Ostwald ripening in two-dime nsional systems that arise in the growth of thin metallic films. This extends the classical LSW theory in two ways. First, it shows that an LSW-type model is also valid in two dimensions, even though the formal derivation seems less convincing than in three dimensions. Second, it clarifies the regime of validity an d provides an inhomogeneous extension. c © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Static Balance in Patients with Vestibular Impairments: A Preliminary Study

Aims. Vestibular system is indicated as one of the most important sensors responsible for static and dynamic postural control. In this study, we evaluated static balance in patients with unilateral vestibular impairments. Materials and Methods. We compared static balance control using Kistler force plate platform between 10 patients with unilateral vestibular impairments and 20 normal counterparts in the same sex ratio and age limits (50 ± 7). We evaluated excursion and velocity of center of pressure (COP) and path length in anteroposterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) planes with eyes open and with eyes closed. Results. There was no significant difference between COP excursions in ML and AP planes between both groups with eyes open and eyes closed (p value > 0.05). In contrast, the difference between velocity and path length of COP in the mentioned planes was significant between both groups with eyes open and eyes closed (p value < 0.05). Conclusions. The present study showed the static instability and balance of patients with vestibular impairments indicated by the abnormal characteristics of body balance.
Global genetic analysis reveals the putative native source of the invasive termite, Reticulitermes flavipes, in France

Biological invasions are recognized as a major threat to both natural and managed ecosystems. Phylogeographic and population genetic analyses can provide information about the geographical origins and patterns of introduction and explain the causes and mechanisms by which introduced species have become successful invaders. Reticulitermes flavipes is a North American subterranean termite that has been introduced into several areas, including France where introduced populations have become invasive. To identify likely source populations in the USA and to compare the genetic diversity of both native and introduced populations, an extensive molecular genetic study was undertaken using the COII region of mtDNA and 15 microsatellite loci. Our results showed that native northern US populations appeared well differentiated from those of the southern part of the US range. Phylogenetic analysis of both mitochondrial and nuclear markers showed that French populations probably originated from southeastern US populations, and more specifically from Louisiana. All of the mtDNA haplotypes shared between the United States and France were found in Louisiana. Compared to native populations in Louisiana, French populations show lower genetic diversity at both mtDNA and microsatellite markers. These findings are discussed along with the invasion routes of R. flavipes as well as the possible mechanisms by which French populations have evolved after their introduction.
Evidence for Structural Sympathetic Reinnervation After Orthotopic Cardiac Transplantation in Humans

BackgroundCardiac transplantation (CT) causes total cardiac denervation. Methods and ResultsTo test directly for sympathetic reinnervation in humans, we measured the cardiac release of norepinephrine (NE) in response to tyramine (an agent that causes NE release from intact sympatheticnerve terminals) and sustained handgrip exercise (a reflex sympathetic stimulus) in 12 patients less than 5 months after CT, in 50 patients 1 year or more after CT, and in eight patients without CT. Plasma [NE] was measured in the aorta ([NE]A0) and coronary sinus ([NE]cs) at rest, after tyramine administration (55 μg/kg, i.v.), and during sustained handgrip exercise. Cardiac NE release was determined by subtracting [NE]AO from [NE]cs ([NE]cs-AO). NE release was defined as [NE]cs-AO during the intervention — [NE]cs-AO at rest (Δ[NE]cS-AO). In patients studied within 5 months of CT, no significant NE release occurred after tyramine administration (Δ[NE]cS-AO, 33±18 pg/ml; range, -98 to 117 pg/ml) or handgrip exercise (Δ[NE]cs-Ao, -34±10 pg/ml; range, -46 to 8 pg/ml; n = 10). Conversely, in 39 of 50 patients studied 1 year or more after CT, tyramine administration caused a significant cardiac NE release (Δ[NE]cs-AO, 500±59 pg/ml; range, -11 to 1,918 pg/ml), and handgrip exercise caused a significant NE release in 17 of 41 patients (Δ[NE]cs-Ao, 189±34 pg/ml; range, -211 to 949 pg/ml). In normally innervated patients, tyramine caused an even larger NE release (Δ[NE]AO-cs, 1,943±210 pg/ml; range, 1,152 to 2,977 pg/ml), and handgrip exercise caused a significantNE release in two of seven patients (Δ[NE]cs-AO, 143±51 pg/ml; range, -15 to 338 pg/ml). ConclusionsEarly after CT, neither tyramine nor handgrip exercise caused a significant cardiac release of NE, suggesting sympathetic denervation. Late after CT, most patients had a significant, but subnormal, NE release in response to pharmacological or reflex stimuli, suggesting that limited sympathetic reinnervation occurs in most patients after orthotopic CT.
Are you ready for the era of ‘big data’?

When the executive convened a group of senior leaders to dig into the competitor’s practices, they found that the challenge ran deeper than they had imagined. The competitor had made massive investments in its ability to collect, integrate, and analyze data from each store and every sales unit and had used this ability to run myriad real-world experiments. At the same time, it had linked this information to suppliers’ databases, making it possible to adjust prices in real time, to reorder hot-selling items automatically, and to shift items from store to store easily. By constantly testing, bundling, synthesizing, and making information instantly available across the organization— from the store floor to the CFO’s office—the rival company had become a different, far nimbler type of business.
Analysing elephant habitat parameters using GIS, remote sensing and analytic hierarchy process in Peninsular Malaysia

Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing are geospatial technologies that have been used for many years in environmental studies, including gathering and analysing of information on the physical parameters of wildlife habitats and modelling of habitat assessments. The home range estimation provided in a GIS environment offers a viable method of quantifying habitat use and facilitating a better understanding of species and habitat relationships. This study used remote sensing, GIS and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) application tools as methods to assess the habitat parameters preference of Asian elephant. Satellite images and topographical maps were used for the environmental and topographical habitat parameter generation encompassing land use-land cover (LULC), Normalized Digital Vegetation Index (NDVI), water sources, Digital Elevation Model (DEM), slope and aspect. The kernel home range was determined using elephant distribution data from satellite tracking, which were then analysed using habitat parameters to investigate any possible relationship. Subsequently, the frequency of the utilization distribution of elephants was further analysed using spatial and geostatistical analyses. This was followed by the use of AHP for identifying habitat preference, selection of significant habitat parameters and classification of criterion. The habitats occupied by the elephants showed that the conservation of these animals would require good management practices within and outside of protected areas so as to ensure the level of suitability of the habitat, particularly in translocation areas.
Salsa20 Cryptanalysis: New Moves and Revisiting Old Styles

In this paper, we revisit some existing techniques in Salsa20 cryptanalysis, and provide some new ideas as well. As a new result, we explain how a valid initial state can be obtained from a Salsa20 state after one round. This helps in studying the non-randomness of Salsa20 after 5 rounds. In particular, it can be seen that the 5-round bias reported by Fischer et al. (Indocrypt 2006) is a special case of our analysis. Towards improving the existing results, we revisit the idea of Probabilistic Neutral Bit (PNB) and how a proper choice of certain parameters reduce the complexity of the existing attacks. For cryptanalysis against 8-round Salsa20, we could achieve the key search complexity of 2 compared to 2 (FSE 2008) and 2 (ICISC 2012).
Antiproliferative Effects of DNA Methyltransferase 3B Depletion Are Not Associated with DNA Demethylation

Silencing of genes by hypermethylation contributes to cancer progression and has been shown to occur with increased frequency at specific genomic loci. However, the precise mechanisms underlying the establishment and maintenance of aberrant methylation marks are still elusive. The de novo DNA methyltransferase 3B (DNMT3B) has been suggested to play an important role in the generation of cancer-specific methylation patterns. Previous studies have shown that a reduction of DNMT3B protein levels induces antiproliferative effects in cancer cells that were attributed to the demethylation and reactivation of tumor suppressor genes. However, methylation changes have not been analyzed in detail yet. Using RNA interference we reduced DNMT3B protein levels in colon cancer cell lines. Our results confirm that depletion of DNMT3B specifically reduced the proliferation rate of DNMT3B-overexpressing colon cancer cell lines. However, genome-scale DNA methylation profiling failed to reveal methylation changes at putative DNMT3B target genes, even in the complete absence of DNMT3B. These results show that DNMT3B is dispensable for the maintenance of aberrant DNA methylation patterns in human colon cancer cells and they have important implications for the development of targeted DNA methyltransferase inhibitors as epigenetic cancer drugs.
Economic Geography and Industrialization

We draw attention to the role of economic geography in explaining important crosssectional facts which are di¢ cult to account for in existing models of industrialization. By construction, closed-economy models are not well suited to explain the strong negative correlation between proximity to large markets and levels of manufacturing activity in the developing world. Secondly, open-economy models that emphasize the importance of comparative advantage seem to be at odds with a positive correlation between the ratio of agricultural to manufacturing productivity and shares of manufacturing in GDP. This paper provides a potential explanation for these observations by nesting the above theories in a multi-location model with trade costs. Using a number of analytical examples and a multi-country calibration, we show that the model can replicate the above stylized facts.
Isoperimetric Graph Partitioning for Data Clustering and Image Segmentation

Spectral methods of graph partitioning have be(oll shown to provi(k a powerful approach to the image segmentation problem. In this paper, we adopt a different approach, based on mtimating the isoperimetric constant of an image graph. Our algorithm produces the high quality segmentations and data clustering of speetral methods, but with improved speed and stability.
Asymptotically safe cosmology

We study quantum modifications to cosmology in a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe with and without scalar fields by taking the renormalisation group running of grav- itational and matter couplings into account. We exploit the Bianchi identity to relate the renormalisation group scale with scale factor and derive the improved cosmological evolution equations. We find two types of cosmological fixed points where the renormalisation group scale either freezes in, or continues to evolve with scale factor. We discuss the implications of each of these, and classify the different cosmological fixed points with and without gravity displaying an asymptotically safe renormalisation group fixed point. We state conditions of existence for an inflating ultraviolet cosmological fixed point for Einstein gravity coupled to a scalar field. We also discuss other fixed point solutions such as "scaling" solutions, or fixed points with equipartition between kinetic and potential energies.
The Effects of Transformational Leadership on Organizational Conditions and Student Engagement with School.

Most school restucturing initiatives assume significant capacity development on the part of individuals, as well as whole organizations; they also depend on high levels of motivation and commitment to solving the substantial problems associated with the implementation of restructuring initiatives. Transformational approaches to leadership have long been advocated as productive under these conditions, and evidence suggests that transformational practices do contribute to the development of capacity and commitment. Much less evidence is available, however, about whether these socio‐psychological effects actually result in organizational change and enhanced organizational outcomes. Survey data from an achieved sample of 1,762 teachers and 9,941 students in one large school district were used to explore the relative effects of transformational leadership practices on selected organizational conditions and student engagement with school. Results demonstrated strong significant effects of such leadership on organizational conditions, and moderate but still significant total effects on student engagement.
Cluster Based Hybrid Niche Mimetic and Genetic Algorithm for Text Document Categorization

Summary An efficient cluster based hybrid niche mimetic and genetic algorithm for text document categorization to improve the retrieval rate of relevant document fetching is addressed. The proposal minimizes the processing of structuring the document with better feature selection using hybrid algorithm. In addition restructuring of feature words to associated documents gets reduced, in turn increases document clustering rate. The performance of the proposed work is measured in terms of cluster objects accuracy, term weight, term frequency and inverse document frequency. Experimental results demonstrate that it achieves very good performance on both feature selection and text document categorization, compared to other classifier methods.
Bile Salts Affect Expression of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Genes for Virulence and Iron Acquisition, and Promote Growth under Iron Limiting Conditions

Bile salts exhibit potent antibacterial properties, acting as detergents to disrupt cell membranes and as DNA-damaging agents. Although bacteria inhabiting the intestinal tract are able to resist bile’s antimicrobial effects, relatively little is known about how bile influences virulence of enteric pathogens. Escherichia coli O157:H7 is an important pathogen of humans, capable of causing severe diarrhea and more serious sequelae. In this study, the transcriptome response of E. coli O157:H7 to bile was determined. Bile exposure induced significant changes in mRNA levels of genes related to virulence potential, including a reduction of mRNA for the 41 genes making up the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE) pathogenicity island. Bile treatment had an unusual effect on mRNA levels for the entire flagella-chemotaxis regulon, resulting in two- to four-fold increases in mRNA levels for genes associated with the flagella hook-basal body structure, but a two-fold decrease for “late” flagella genes associated with the flagella filament, stator motor, and chemotaxis. Bile salts also caused increased mRNA levels for seventeen genes associated with iron scavenging and metabolism, and counteracted the inhibitory effect of the iron chelating agent 2,2’-dipyridyl on growth of E. coli O157:H7. These findings suggest that E. coli O157:H7 may use bile as an environmental signal to adapt to changing conditions associated with the small intestine, including adaptation to an iron-scarce environment.
Pyk 2 signaling STriatal-Enriched Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase ( STEP ) Regulates Pyk 2 Activity *

Background: Proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 (Pyk2) is implicated in synaptic plasticity; however, it remains unclear how Pyk2 is inactivated within neurons. Results: STriatal-Enriched Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase (STEP) directly binds to and dephosphorylates Pyk2 at Tyr. Conclusion: STEP inactivates Pyk2 and its downstream signaling pathways. Significance: These results identify an important regulatory mechanism for Pyk2 signaling, which is critical for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity.
Work-life balance for sustainable human development: Cultural intelligence as enabler

ABSTRACT It is proposed that sustainable human development can occur only when there is a reasonable work-life balance for humans. Developmental work for humans is mostly achieved through high performing organizations, and the performance of organizations, in turn, depend on the commitment and engagement of their employees. While societies organize themselves though groups which come together to form an organization, the individual continues to play a key role in success of these organizations. This article explores the impact of an individual’s work-life balance on his/her role—related engagement, thereby contributing to the sustainable human development. Since culture drives behavior for all three, that is, the individual, the organizations, and the society, it is suggested that if we create a culture that supports work-life balance, it is likely to promote sustainable human development though higher role-related engagement of individuals. Further, it is suggested that cultural intelligence plays an important role in achieving both work-life balance and sustainable human development.
Capnography is superior to pulse oximetry for the detection of respiratory depression during colonoscopy.

BACKGROUND Pulse oximetry is a widely accepted procedure for ventilatory monitoring during gastrointestinal endoscopy, but this method provides an indirect measurement of the respiratory function. In addition, detection of abnormal ventilatory activity can be delayed, especially if supplemental oxygen is provided. Capnography offers continuous real-time measurement of expiratory carbon dioxide. OBJECTIVE We aimed at prospectively examining the advantages of capnography over the standard pulse oximetry monitoring during sedated colonoscopies. PATIENTS AND METHODS Fifty patients undergoing colonoscopy were simultaneously monitored with pulse oximetry and capnography by using two different devices in each patient. Several sedation regimens were administered. Episodes of apnea or hypoventilation detected by capnography were compared with the occurrence of hypoxemia. RESULTS Twenty-nine episodes of disordered respiration occurred in 16 patients (mean duration 54.4 seconds). Only 38% of apnea or hypoventilation episodes were detected by pulse oximetry. A mean delay of 38.6 seconds was observed in the events detected by pulse oximetry (two episodes of disturbed ventilation were simultaneously detected by capnography and pulse oximetry). CONCLUSIONS Apnea or hypoventilation commonly occurs during colonoscopy with sedation. Capnography is more reliable than pulse oximetry in early detection of respiratory depression in this setting.
'Celebrating diverse motherhood': physically disabled women's counter-narratives to their stigmatised identity as mothers

This study examined how disabled women negotiated their stigmatized identity as mothers by presenting counter-narratives to the culturally dominant narrative of disabled motherhood. Eleven Finnish physically disabled mothers were interviewed. The data were analysed by focusing on these counter narratives, their linguistic features and their functions in the interviews. The disabled mothers produced four types of counternarratives about their motherhood experiences: 1) celebrating diverse motherhood through individual coping, 2) performing motherhood through collaborative caring, 3) boosting motherhood through praising one's children, and 4) normalising (disabled women's) motherhood through identifying with the mother community. All the counter narratives included explicit or implicit references to the culturally dominant narratives of disabled motherhood, but instead of taking their stigmatized identity for granted, they adopted a critical position towards it. Producing counter-narratives enabled the disabled mothers to position themselves as good mothers and care-providers, and not as questionable mothers or recipients of care.