Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential Infectivity of the Lyme Disease Spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi Derived from Ixodes scapularis Salivary Glands and Midgut

Abstract Blood fed nymphal Ixodes scapularis Say infected with Borrelia burgdorferi were dissected to obtain salivary gland and midgut extracts. Extracts were inoculated into C3H/HeJ mice, and ear, heart, and bladder were cultured to determine comparative infectivity. Aliquots of extracts were then analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction to determine the number of spirochetes inoculated into mice. A comparative median infectious dose (ID50) was determined for both salivary gland and midgut extract inoculations. Our data demonstrated a statistically significant difference (P < 0.002) in the ID50 derived from salivary gland (average = 18) versus midgut (average = 251) extracts needed to infect susceptible mice. A rationale for the differential infectivity of salivary and midgut derived spirochetes is discussed.
Weathering the Storm: Family Ownership, Governance, and Performance Through the Financial and Economic Crisis

Manuscript Type Empirical Research Question/Issue Considering the recent financial and economic crisis as a unique exogenous shock, our study investigates the financial performance of family-controlled firms in 'steady-state' conditions as opposed to situations of severe economic distress. In addition, we focus our attention within family firms in order to tease out the leadership (family or non-family CEO) and family ownership (family ownership concentration or dispersion) conditions that allow some governance arrangements to perform better than others during an economic downturn. Research Findings/Insights Examining the entire population of Italian industrial family and non-family publicly listed companies over the period 2002-2012, we observe a significantly and consistently better performance of family-controlled firms during the financial and economic crisis, a finding that proves to be robust to several analytical specifications, as well as to different performance measures (ROA, ROE). Then, focusing on family firms only, we find that mixed configurations (family CEOs with relatively lower family ownership concentration) produce better performance in the face of an external hazard. Theoretical/Academic Implications Our study confirms the pivotal assumption of the socioemotional wealth perspective that the advantages of family firms show up exactly when ownership is at stake. Our results also add to the growing literature on the resilience of family firms, showing that they are more able than others to absorb exogenous shocks. Practitioner/Policy Implications Our findings suggest the importance of crafting governance structures well in advance of a crisis. Our research speaks to policymakers, indicating the importance of family firms for national economies, and the political opportunity to sustain their growth and managerial development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
A study of bus route crime risk in urban areas: the changing environs of a bus journey

This study examines the risk of bus route crime and how it is influenced by environmental characteristics along the bus corridor. These include changing levels of crime risk, socio-economic influences, and changes to the physical infrastructure including land use. Three urban case study areas in the UK are used. The findings suggest that the risk of bus crime along a journey is influenced by overall levels of crime (for specific categories of crime only), that the level of risk increases in high crime areas, and that risk is raised further when there are more stops along that route. Prevention implications of these findings are discussed, and avenues for future research are presented.
Making organizational learning happen: the value of “creative failures”

Purpose – The article seeks to highlight an unconventional way out of the “innovation dilemma”, relevant to many business organizations. Innovative management and risk friendliness are necessary, but the way in which failure is handled and the resulting fear of making mistakes block the (innovative) efforts of specialists and managers.Design/methodology/approach – The article draws on theoretical as well as empirical work. First, the seemingly crystal‐clear concept of “error” is elaborated and the rare category of “creative errors” is introduced. Second, illustrative findings from a case study in the automotive sector are reported.Findings – The paper suggests that a culturally exacerbated antipathy towards errors ultimately leads to a situation of pronounced innovation incompetence in which creative behavior is avoided. The article points out that it is not an “absolution of mistakes” that is required, but a tolerance for legitimate errors which should only occur under exceptional circumstances. The auth.
Innovation strategies and network configurations in knowledge-intensive services

In this paper we deal with the innovation strategies of software for telecommunications companies that develop innovative products through the creation, use and adaptation of various resources. In addition to in-house capabilities and resources, they resort to external sources via market and non-market transactions. We will focus on non-market exchanges, namely networks. The main goal is to determine if different innovation strategies (mostly radical versus mostly incremental) are associated with distinct networking strategies. With this aim, we adopted a specific analysis of innovation networks, which deals separately with the two main types of resource: knowledge and complementary assets. Results reveal that there are clear-cut differences in the network configurations of radical versus incremental innovators, particularly in the access to knowledge. They also give support to the adequacy of using a fine-grained analysis. These findings can therefore add to the debate on the most favourable networking strategies for innovation.
Disentangling neural representations of value and salience in the human brain

Significance The value and salience of predictive cues are important signals for regulating approach–avoidance behavior and attentional processing, respectively. However, the two signals often are confounded in studies of decision-making. Indeed, recent results suggest that neural signals in the primate posterior parietal cortex (PPC) which previously were thought to encode value actually reflect salience. This finding has created considerable uncertainty about previously identified value signals. Here we experimentally dissociate value and salience and use pattern-based functional MRI to demonstrate distinct encoding of both signals in the PPC, thereby reinforcing the earlier reports of value in the PPC. Moreover, we show that the orbitofrontal cortex encodes the predicted value of appetitive and aversive outcomes on a common neural scale. A large body of evidence has implicated the posterior parietal and orbitofrontal cortex in the processing of value. However, value correlates perfectly with salience when appetitive stimuli are investigated in isolation. Accordingly, considerable uncertainty has remained about the precise nature of the previously identified signals. In particular, recent evidence suggests that neurons in the primate parietal cortex signal salience instead of value. To investigate neural signatures of value and salience, here we apply multivariate (pattern-based) analyses to human functional MRI data acquired during a noninstrumental outcome-prediction task involving appetitive and aversive outcomes. Reaction time data indicated additive and independent effects of value and salience. Critically, we show that multivoxel ensemble activity in the posterior parietal cortex encodes predicted value and salience in superior and inferior compartments, respectively. These findings reinforce the earlier reports of parietal value signals and reconcile them with the recent salience report. Moreover, we find that multivoxel patterns in the orbitofrontal cortex correlate with value. Importantly, the patterns coding for the predicted value of appetitive and aversive outcomes are similar, indicating a common neural scale for appetite and aversive values in the orbitofrontal cortex. Thus orbitofrontal activity patterns satisfy a basic requirement for a neural value signal.
Protein A–calmodulin fusions: a novel approach for investigating calmodulin function in yeast

A novel gene fusion approach which may be of more general use has been developed for investigating the function of calmodulin in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. By fusing a portion of the Staphylococcus aureus spa gene (encoding protein A) to CMD1, the S. cerevisiae gene encoding calmodulin, we have generated a yeast calmodulin with an affinity tag able to bind immunoglobulins. The chimaeric protein A–calmodulin (ProtA–CaM) polypeptide functions in vivo and shows Ca2+‐dependent binding to calmodulin target proteins. The spa–CMD1 fusion has been used (i) to prepare (by affinity chromatography) a fraction of yeast proteins which interact with calmodulin, (ii) to isolate genes encoding calmodulin target proteins by direct screening of an expression library, and (iii) to visualize calmodulin‐binding proteins in crude extracts by Western blot analysis.
Medical Student Perceptions of Factors Affecting Productivity of Problem-Based Learning Tutorial Groups: Does Culture Influence the Outcome?

Background: The popularization of problem-based learning (PBL) has drawn attention to the motivational and cognitive skills necessary for medical students in group learning. This study identifies the effect of motivational and cognitive factors on group productivity of PBL tutorial groups. Description: A self-administered questionnaire was completed by 115 students at the end of PBL tutorials for 4 themes. The questionnaire explored student perceptions about effect of motivation, cohesion, sponging, withdrawal, interaction, and elaboration on group productivity. We further analyzed (a) differences in perceptions between male and female students, (b) effect of "problems," and (c) effect of student progress over time on group productivity. Evaluation: There were linear relations between a tutorial group's success and the factors studied. Significant differences were noted between male and female student groups. Conclusions: Students and tutors need to recognize symptoms of ineffective PBL groups. Our study emphasizes the need to take into account cultural issues in setting ground rules for PBL tutorials.
The Associations of hA3G and hA3B mRNA Levels With HIV Disease Progression Among HIV-Infected Individuals of China

Objective:To explore correlations between mRNA (hA3G, hA3F, and hA3B) levels and CD4+ T-cell counts and HIV-1 viral loads to evaluate their respective roles in disease progression. Methods:Real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to quantify the mRNA levels of hA3G, hA3B, and hA3F in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from slow progress patients (SP), asymptomatic HIV-infected patients (AS), AIDS patients, and HIV-negative controls. Results:The levels of hA3G and hA3B mRNA correlated positively with CD4+ T-cell counts (r = 0.436, P = 0.002, r = 0.334, P = 0.025), and negatively with HIV-1 viral loads (r = −0.306, P = 0.038, r = −0.301 P = 0.044). The levels of hA3G and hA3B mRNA in HIV-infected subjects were lower than in HIV-negative controls (P < 0.05), and hA3G and hA3B mRNA levels were significantly higher in SP than in AIDS patients (P < 0.05). There was no correlation between the hA3F mRNA level and CD4+ T-cell counts or between the hA3F mRNA level and HIV-1 viral loads. Conclusions:Higher expression levels of hA3G and hA3B mRNA in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of Chinese HIV-infected individuals were found to be associated with slower HIV disease progression, suggesting their potential roles in antiviral innate immunity.
Management Control System Design and Effectiveness

This doctoral thesis describes the set-up and findings of an empirical study of management control system design and effectiveness. My central problem is to find out which control systems are effective given the circumstances. The Transaction Cost Theory of Management Control (Spekle, 2001a, 2001b, 2004) provides insights into these matters and is taken as the theoretical basis of this study. The theory submits that five effective forms of control systems (so-called archetypes or configurations of control) exist: arm’s length control, result oriented machine control, action oriented machine control, exploratory control, and boundary control. Each archetype is effective for the control of specific activities, but not for others. Using survey data on 258 organizational units, I test the theoretical claims empirically. One result from a regression analysis shows that resemblance of a management control system with the archetype arm’s length control has a positive impact on the perceived effectiveness of the control system.
Dual Targets for Mouse Mast Cell Protease-4 in Mediating Tissue Damage in Experimental Bullous Pemphigoid*

Background: Experimental bullous pemphigoid is mediated by mast cells (MCs), which release proteases when activated. Results: Mouse MC protease-4 (mMCP-4), the likely murine homolog of human MC chymase, activates the enzyme MMP-9 and directly injures the skin adhesion protein BP180. Conclusion: MMCP-4 regulates experimental BP by two different mechanisms. Significance: MMCP-4 is a potential therapeutic target for human BP treatment. Mouse mast cell protease-4 (mMCP-4) has been linked to autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, although the exact mechanisms underlying its role in these pathological conditions remain unclear. Here, we have found that mMCP-4 is critical in a mouse model of the autoimmune skin blistering disease bullous pemphigoid (BP). Mice lacking mMCP-4 were resistant to experimental BP. Complement activation, mast cell (MC) degranulation, and the early phase of neutrophil (PMN) recruitment occurred comparably in mMCP-4−/− and WT mice. However, without mMCP-4, activation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 was impaired in cultured mMCP-4−/− MCs and in the skin of pathogenic IgG-injected mMCP-4−/− mice. MMP-9 activation was not fully restored by local reconstitution with WT or mMCP-4−/− PMNs. Local reconstitution with mMCP-4+/+ MCs, but not with mMCP-4−/− MCs, restored blistering, MMP-9 activation, and PMN recruitment in mMCP-4−/− mice. mMCP-4 also degraded the hemidesmosomal transmembrane protein BP180 both in the skin and in vitro. These results demonstrate that mMCP-4 plays two different roles in the pathogenesis of experimental BP, by both activating MMP-9 and by cleaving BP180, leading to injury of the hemidesmosomes and extracellular matrix of the basement membrane zone.
The Role of Agricultural Consultants in New Zealand in Environmental Extension

Abstract The aim of this study was to understand the role that agricultural consultants in New Zealand were undertaking in the Research, Development and Extension (RD&E) system—and in particular in relation to environmental extension. New Zealand does not have a public extension service and hence there is a strong reliance on consultants and regional councils for environmental management information and advice. As they are independent of the formal RD&E system there is no guarantee that RD&E outcomes are reaching farmers, nor that effective environmental extension is occurring. The study used a combination of case studies, phone interviews with informed persons and a national web survey to explore the role of the consultant. The study found that agricultural consultants are playing an important role in working with farmers to improve agricultural production. There are, however, indications that gaps have developed over time between agricultural consultants and the agricultural research sector which limit the effectiveness of the RD&E system. Agricultural consultants are playing a minimal role in proactive environmental extension because insufficient market forces are driving this role. The paper suggests that a national database of agricultural consultants could improve the flow of tailored information between research and agricultural consultants and also suggests mechanisms where consultants could be better integrated into the RD&E system and provide feedback to research programs. Market failure in the area of environmental extension could be addressed by publicly funded incentive programs.
The Day-of-the-Week Anomaly: The Role of Institutional Investors

Studies have suggested that individual investor behavior is the primary cause of the weekend effect. This examination of differences in the daily returns of securities held primarily by individual investors versus securities held by institutional investors indicates that institutional behavior is the primary source of day-of-the-week return differences. Day-of-the-week patterns in returns and volumes are more pronounced in securities in which institutional investors play a greater role.
1 Title : Understanding social structures behind the six degrees of separation

Empirical evidence has proved that social networks are searchable, meaning that a short path from one person to any other person can be collectively found, despite that each individual has only local information of the entire network. The structure of empirical social networks that allows these phenomena has not yet been completely uncovered, and this knowledge is important for communication systems and models of information spreading. In this work we evaluate diverse decentralized search strategies in social networks of over 25 million phone users from three countries. While the city of the target person is reached within a few hops almost independently of the origin and the routing strategy, we show, for the first time, that within cities, the strategies based on geographic information completely fail to reach the target. This failure occurs because the relationship between the social networks and their geographical space does fundamentally change within cities: social groups are geographically scattered across the city, as opposed to what happens at country scale where communities nearly preserve geo-political borders. We present structural evidence for the success of routing strategies based on the network's community structure within cities. Main Text: In the 1960's, social psychologist Stanley Milgram carried out a series of experiments where participants in Omaha, Nebraska, were given a letter whose addressee was a person in Boston, Massachusetts (1). The rules of the experiment stated that the participant was restricted to mail the letter to any acquaintance (who would become a new participant) with the aim that the letter would finally reach the addressee. Surprisingly, one third of these letters reached their intended target in a median number of only six hops, giving rise to the popular expression “six degrees
Prophylactic Antibiotic during Caesarean Sections at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi.

SUMMARY OBJECTIVES To compare the efficacy of co-amoxiclav (amoxicillin + clavulanic acid) and the triple therapy of ampicillin + gentamycin + metronidazole as prophylactic antibiotic during Caesarean sections. DESIGN A randomized controlled trial. SETTING The study was conducted between March and December 2002 at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi. PARTICIPANTS Patients undergoing caesarean section were recruited into the study and given either drug as prophylaxis. Excluded were patients who had established infections prior to the operation, had had any antibiotic in the preceding 24 hours and those allergic to any of the trial drugs. INTERVENTIONS A total of 320 patients were recruited and randomized on a one-to-one basis into two groups, 160 receiving co-amoxiclav whilst the other 160 received the triple therapy. In either case the drug was given as a single intravenous dose after cord clamping and repeated 12 hours later. No other antibiotic was given except in cases where frank infection was apparent post-operatively. OUTCOME MEASURES Included abdominal wound infection, cough, dysuria, fever, uterine tenderness and offensive lochia after surgery. RESULTS Abdominal wound infection was found in rates lower than in a previous study: 3.7% in the co-amoxiclav group and 13.1% in the triple therapy group as against 15.1% in the previous study. Co-amoxiclav was statistically found superior to the Triple Therapy in preventing abdominal wound infection and uterine tenderness. There was however, no statistical difference between the two groups as far as the prevention of cough, dysuria and fever were concerned. CONCLUSION Co-amoxiclav was found to be a better prophylactic antibiotic.
Foreign Direct Investment in Mexico: A Cointegration Analysis

This article addresses the important question of whether foreign direct investment enhances economic growth and labour productivity in Mexico, both from a theoretical and empirical perspective. After briefly reviewing the Mexican experience with net FDI inflows during the 1990s, the article presents a simple endogenous growth model which explicitly incorporates any positive (negative) externalities generated by additions to the foreign capital stock. Using cointegration analysis, the article estimates a dynamic labour productivity function for the 1960-95 period that includes the impact of the growth rate in the stocks of both private and foreign capital (as opposed to the flows) and the economically active population (EAP) (rather than the rate of population growth). The error correction model (ECM) estimates suggest that increases in both private ad (lagged) foreign investment spending, as well as the rate of growth in exports, have a positive and economically significant effect on the rate of labour productivity growth. In addition, the results show that increases in the EAP have a negative and statistically significant effect on the rate of labour productivity growth, while changes in the government consumption variable have a negative but marginally significant impact. The error correction terms of the estimated models are negative and statistically significant, thus suggesting that deviations of actual labour productivity growth from its long-run value are corrected in subsequent periods. Finally the article generates historical simulations from the estimated ECM's and offers some policy recommendations to enhance the positive externalities associated with FDI inflows.
Influence of the corporate social responsibility factors and financial factors on REIT performance in Australia

Purpose – Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has taken on increased stature and importance in recent years, as property investors have given an increased priority to environmental, social and corporate governance issues in their property investment decision‐making. The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the impact of CSR factors and financial factors on the performance of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in Australia (A‐REITs) and assess whether these three CSR factors are separately priced by A‐REIT investors in uniquely adding value to A‐REIT investment performance.Design/methodology/approach – Using CSR rating factors and financial factors for the 16 A‐REITs in the ASX200, cross‐sectional multi‐factor models are employed to identify the separate pricing of these CSR factors in A‐REIT performance over 2005‐2010.Findings – The empirical results show that the environmental, social and corporate governance dimensions of CSR are not currently separately priced by A‐REIT investors, with .