Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rapid Publication Magnetic Resonance Evidence of Hypoxia in a Homozygous Alpha-Knockout of a Transgenic Mouse Model for Sickle Cell Disease

All transgenic mouse models for sickle cell disease express residual levels of mouse globins which complicate the interpretation of experimental results. We now report on a mouse expressing high levels of human b S and 100% human a -globin. These mice were created by breeding the a -knockout and the mouse b major -deletion to homozygosity in mice expressing human a and b S -transgenes. These b S a -knockout mice have accelerated red cell destruction, altered hematological indices, ongoing organ damage, and pathology under ambient conditions which are comparable with those found in a H b S b S-Ant [ b MDD ] mice without introduction of additional mutations which convert b S into a “superb S ” such as the doubly mutated b S-Antilles . This is of particular importance for testing strategies for gene therapy of sickle cell disease. Spin echo magnetic resonance imaging at room air and 100% oxygen demonstrated the presence of blood hypoxia (high levels of deoxygenated hemoglobin) in the liver and kidneys that was absent in control mice. We demonstrate here that transgenic mice can be useful to test new noninvasive diagnostic procedures, since the magnetic resonance imaging technique described here potentially can be applied to patients with sickle cell disease. ( J. Clin. Invest. 1996. 98: 2450–2455.)
Moderating role of LMX and proactive coping in the relationship between learning value of the job and employability enhancement among academic staff employees

Purpose Building upon a competence-based employability model and a social exchange and proactive perspective, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between learning value of the job and employability among academic staff employees. Moreover, this study also examined whether this relationship was moderated by leader–member exchange (LMX) and a proactive coping style. Design/methodology/approach An online self-report questionnaire with thoroughly validated measures was distributed among academic staff employees (n=139). Findings The results partially supported the specific study assumptions. Concrete, learning value of the job was positively related to anticipation and optimization, corporate sense and balance. LMX moderated the relationship between learning value of the job, on the one hand, and all employability dimensions, on the other hand. However, proactive coping only moderated the relationship with anticipation and optimization, flexibility and balance. In all cases, under the condition of high moderator variable levels, the relationship became stronger. Originality/value This study extends past employability research by applying an interactionist perspective (person: proactive coping style, context: LMX and learning value of the job) approach for explaining employability enhancement. The results of this scholarly work provide useful insights for stimulating future career development and growth, which is of upmost importance in nowadays’ labor markets.
Perceived Influence of Large Class Size and Psychological Classroom Environment on Students’ Academic Performance in Senior High Schools in Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

This study investigated how large class size and the psychological class environment influenced students’ academic performance. Survey design was employed. Three hundred and twenty students were purposively selected from ten senior high schools in Kumasi Metropolis. Questionnaire was used to obtain data from the respondents with a reliability coefficient of 0.7. The study revealed that large class size influenced students’ academic performance and also limits their learning opportunities. It also came up that psychological class environment have a great influence on students’ academic performance. Furthermore, the study showed that students perform well in smaller class size and good psychological classroom environment. The study, therefore, recommends that small class size and good psychological class environment are better for good performance. Teachers and head teachers should make sure they conform to the required teacher to student ratio of 1:40 recommended by the Ghana Education Service. Teachers should create an enabling environment for students to participate in classroom activities. Government should, therefore, employ more teachers and build more classrooms to solve the problem of large class size in the senior high schools in Ghana.
A comparative study of two European business incubators

The aim of this article is to contribute to the literature on the management of SME support arrangements, such as new business incubation programs, by presenting two European case studies of such arrangements. In the case studies, we have tried to identify management practices that seem to work well in both cases. The literature abounds with "success stories" of for example individual science parks but such stories tend to have two major shortcomings. First, what constitutes success is seldom defined. Second, it is difficult to determine to what degree this success depends on local factors and to what degree it can be attributed to the management practices of the support arrangement. This study discusses the management practices of these two arrangements against the background of their regional settings.
Enhancing the Potential of Block Copolymer Lithography with Polymer Self-Consistent Field Theory Simulations

Self-consistent field theory methodology is used to explore the graphoepitaxy of spherical-morphology block copolymers templated by an array of posts, as well as to predict the formation of aperiodic templated structures, giving an excellent agreement with experimental results. Simulations in two and three dimensions were performed on model hexagonal lattices of posts with spacing, Lpost that was varied in the range Lpost = 1.7L0 to 3.9L0, where L0 is the equilibrium period of the block copolymer. The effects of changing the diameter of the posts and the volume fraction of the block copolymer were investigated, and the formation of a structure with designed aperiodicities was successfully modeled.
Pharmacological Profile of Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ Receptors Interacting with G-Proteins and β-Arrestins 2

Nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) controls several biological functions by selectively activating an opioid like receptor named N/OFQ peptide receptor (NOP). Biased agonism is emerging as an important and therapeutically relevant pharmacological concept in the field of G protein coupled receptors including opioids. To evaluate the relevance of this phenomenon in the NOP receptor, we used a bioluminescence resonance energy transfer technology to measure the interactions of the NOP receptor with either G proteins or β-arrestin 2 in the absence and in presence of increasing concentration of ligands. A large panel of receptor ligands was investigated by comparing their ability to promote or block NOP/G protein and NOP/arrestin interactions. In this study we report a systematic analysis of the functional selectivity of NOP receptor ligands. NOP/G protein interactions (investigated in cell membranes) allowed a precise estimation of both ligand potency and efficacy yielding data highly consistent with the known pharmacological profile of this receptor. The same panel of ligands displayed marked differences in the ability to promote NOP/β-arrestin 2 interactions (evaluated in whole cells). In particular, full agonists displayed a general lower potency and for some ligands an inverted rank order of potency was noted. Most partial agonists behaved as pure competitive antagonists of receptor/arrestin interaction. Antagonists displayed similar values of potency for NOP/Gβ1 or NOP/β-arrestin 2 interaction. Using N/OFQ as reference ligand we computed the bias factors of NOP ligands and a number of agonists with greater efficacy at G protein coupling were identified.
Financial Reporting and Global Capital Markets: A History of the International Accounting Standards Committee, 1973-2000

Standardization and harmonization of accounting practices is a fundamental element of a global business environment. Achieving this is a complex process that involves technical and political negotiation. The International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) was the organization that pioneered this process on a world-wide basis. The IASC prepared the way for the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and its International Financial Reporting Standards, which since 2005 have held the dominant influence over the financial reporting of thousands of listed companies in the European Union, as well as in many other countries. The forces and influences that shaped the formation of the IASB were intimately connected with the historical organization and operation of its predecessor, the IASC, and so to understand the standards enforced in financial reporting today, a historical understanding of the IASC is required. Financial Reporting and Global Capital Markets does just this. It examines the history of the IASC from 1973 to 2000, including its foundation, operation, changing membership and leadership, achievements and setbacks, the development of its standards, and its restructuring leading up to the creation of the IASB in 2001. The book also studies the impact of the IASC's standards on national standard setting and on accounting practice in developed and developing countries, as well as the impact on the IASC of the policies and positions of the UN, the OECD, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the International Organization of Securities Commissions, and the European Commission. It will be of vital interest to all concerned with accounting developments in a global environment, be they academics, policy-makers, or professionals.
Photobiont Relationships and Phylogenetic History of Dermatocarpon luridum var. luridum and Related Dermatocarpon Species

Members of the genus Dermatocarpon are widespread throughout the Northern Hemisphere along the edge of lakes, rivers and streams, and are subject to abiotic conditions reflecting both aquatic and terrestrial environments. Little is known about the evolutionary relationships within the genus and between continents. Investigation of the photobiont(s) associated with sub-aquatic and terrestrial Dermatocarpon species may reveal habitat requirements of the photobiont and the ability for fungal species to share the same photobiont species under different habitat conditions. The focus of our study was todetermine the relationship between Canadian and Austrian Dermatocarpon luridum var. luridum along with three additional sub-aquatic Dermatocarpon species, and to determine the species of photobionts that associate with D. luridum var. luridum. Culture experiments were performed to identify the photobionts. In addition, the question of the algal sharing potential regarding different species of Dermatocarpon was addressed. Specimens were collected from four lakes in northwestern Manitoba, Canada and three streams in Austria. Three Canadian and four Austrian thalli of D. luridum var. luridum were selected for algal culturing. The nuclear Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) rDNA gene of the fungal partner along with the algal ITS rDNA gene was sequenced to confirm the identity of the lichen/photobiont and afterwards the same data sets were used in phylogenetic analyses to assess algal sharing. The green algal photobiont was identified as Diplosphaera chodatii (Trebouxiophyceae). The phylogenetic analyses of Canadian and Austrian D. luridum var. luridum revealed that ITS sequences are identical despite the vast geographic distance. Phylogenetic placement of D. luridum var. decipiens and D. arnoldianum suggested that a re-examination of the species status might be necessary. This study concluded that additional photobiont culture experiments should be conducted to answer the question of whether multiple photobionts are present within the genus Dermatocarpon.
Cognate Production using Character-based Machine Translation

Cognates are words in different languages that are associated with each other by language learners. Thus, cognates are important indicators for the prediction of the perceived difficulty of a text. We introduce a method for automatic cognate production using character-based machine translation. We show that our approach is able to learn production patterns from noisy training data and that it works for a wide range of language pairs. It even works across different alphabets, e.g. we obtain good results on the tested language pairs English-Russian, English-Greek, and English-Farsi. Our method performs significantly better than similarity measures used in previous work on cognates.
A Model of Intracellular Theta Phase Precession Dependent on Intrinsic Subthreshold Membrane Currents

A hippocampal place cell fires at an increasingly earlier phase in relation to the extracellular theta rhythm as a rodent moves through the place field. The present report presents a compartment model of a CA1 pyramidal cell that explains the increase in amplitude and the phase precession of intracellular theta oscillations, with the assumption that the cell receives an asymmetric ramp depolarization (<10 mV) in the place field and rhythmic inhibitory and/or excitatory synaptic driving. Intracellular subthreshold membrane potential oscillations (MPOs) increase in amplitude and frequency, and show phase precession within the place field. Theta phase precession and MPO power and frequency increase in the place field are caused by a shift in excitatory–inhibitory response, intrinsic theta-frequency resonance, and intrinsic oscillations that depend on voltage-dependent persistent Na+ and slowly inactivating K+ currents, but not on Ih. Phase precession is diminished when theta-frequency resonance is decreased. Simulated spikes fire near the peak of MPOs and precess similarly as the MPOs. The phase of the MPOs/spikes codes for distance in a one-dimensional place field, and phase precession is only weakly dependent on firing rate, running speed, or the duration needed to cross the place field. In addition, phase precession within the place field resumes quickly after disruption by maximal afferent pulse stimulation.
How many qualitative interviews is enough

Students conducting a piece of qualitative research frequently ask ‘how many interviews is enough? ’ Early career researchers and established academics also consider this question when designing research projects. In this NCRM Methods Review paper we gather and review responses to the question of ‘how many’ from 14 renowned social scientists and 5 early career researchers. The riposte to the question of ‘how many’ from most contributors is ‘it depends’. In considering what ‘it depends upon’ however, the responses offer guidance on the epistemological, methodological and practical issues to take into account when conducting research projects. This includes advice about assessing research aims and objectives, validity within epistemic communities and available time and resources.
Spines and neurite branches function as geometric attractors that enhance protein kinase C action

Ca2+ and diacylglycerol-regulated protein kinase Cs (PKCs; conventional PKC isoforms, such as PKCγ) are multifunctional signaling molecules that undergo reversible plasma membrane translocation as part of their mechanism of activation. In this article, we investigate PKCγ translocation in hippocampal neurons and show that electrical or glutamate stimulation leads to a striking enrichment of PKCγ in synaptic spines and dendritic branches. Translocation into spines and branches was delayed when compared with the soma plasma membrane, and PKCγ remained in these structures for a prolonged period after the response in the soma ceased. We have developed a quantitative model for the translocation process by measuring the rate at which PKCγ crossed the neck of spines, as well as cytosolic and membrane diffusion coefficients of PKCγ. Our study suggests that neurons make use of a high surface-to-volume ratio of spines and branches to create a geometric attraction process for PKC that imposes a delayed enhancement of PKC action at synapses and in peripheral processes.
Preparation for integration: the role of anterior prefrontal cortex in working memory

The execution of complex working memory tasks often requires various cognitive control operations on stored content. Here we focus on the integration operation – defined as merging the outcome of subtask processing with additional information actively maintained before and during subtask execution. In prior work, we identified the anterior prefrontal cortex as critical for integration during mental arithmetic. Here we replicate and extend these results in an adapted mental arithmetic task that enabled examination of the detailed temporal dynamics of the anterior prefrontal activation. We find that this region is involved in the preparation for integration, possibly by ensuring that goal-relevant information is maintained in an accessible form, while at the same time protected from subtask interference.
Comparing GlideScope Video Laryngoscope and Macintosh Laryngoscope Regarding Hemodynamic Responses During Orotracheal Intubation: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: To determine if the GlideScope® videolaryngoscope (GVL) could attenuate the hemodynamic responses to orotracheal intubation compared with conventional Macintosh laryngoscope. Objectives: The aim of this relatively large randomized trial was to compare the hemodynamic stress responses during laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation using GVL versus MCL amongst healthy adult individuals receiving general anesthesia for elective surgeries. Patients and Methods: Ninety five healthy adult patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status class I or II that were scheduled for elective surgery under general anesthesia were randomly allocated to either Macintosh or GlideScope arms. All patients received a standardized protocol of general anesthesia. Hemodynamic changes associated with intubation were recorded before and at 1, 3 and 5 minutes after the intubation. The time taken to perform endotracheal intubation was also noted in both groups. Results: Immediately before laryngoscopy (pre-laryngoscopy), the values of all hemodynamic variables did not differ significantly between the two groups (All P values > 0.05). Blood pressures and HR values changed significantly over time within the groups. Time to intubation was significantly longer in the GlideScope (15.9 ± 6.7 seconds) than in the Macintosh group (7.8 ± 3.7 sec) (P< 0.001). However, there were no significant differences between the two groups in hemodynamic responses at all time points. Conclusions: The longer intubation time using GVL suggests that the benefit of GVL could become apparent if the time taken for orotracheal intubation could be decreased in GlideScope group.
Advocacy as a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Teaching Strategy

Designing a course requires that the teacher pays attention to both the context and the content of the course, implementing an appropriate teaching strategy to keep students interested while they learn. Advocacy provides students with opportunities to apply what they know to a compelling human need, sharpens student engagement, and situates content to be learned within a human context. Problem-based learning (PBL) provides a method to structure tasks that are engaging and relevant to students, encouraging increased learning and commitment to the task. Two cases using advocacy as a teaching strategy and learning outcome and PBL as a guide for task structure are described in terms of course design, student learning, and revisions. Successes and challenges are discussed, and guidelines for implementing advocacy as a teaching strategy are suggested in terms of course design, implementation, and revision.
Demographic Variables and Academic Discipline as Determinants of Undergraduates’ Use of Electronic Library Resources in Federal universities in South-west, Nigeria

Undergraduates use electronic library resources for academic activities because it offers access to relevant and current information from different subject areas. Literature review indicated that undergraduates’ use of electronic library resources is low in Nigeria owing to a number of factors that are largely attributed to user’s attitude, computer literacy and information retrieval skills, but, little attention was given to factors such as demographic variables and academic discipline. This study, therefore, examined demographic variables (age, gender) and academic discipline as determinants of undergraduates’ use of electronic library resources in in federal universities in South-west, Nigeria. The descriptive survey research design was used for this study. The multi-stage sampling method was used to select 1,526 undergraduates from four faculties and three departments in the six federal universities in South-west, Nigeria. Frequency counts, percentages, mean, standard deviation, correlation, and regression methods were used to analyse the data at 0.05 level of significance. Age influenced the use of electronic library resources by undergraduates in federal universities in South-west, Nigeria while gender and academic discipline did not. It is therefore, recommended that university libraries should ensure that undergraduates optimize the use of electronic library resources irrespective of age, gender or academic discipline.
Modelling Higher Moments of Electricity Prices

It is crucial to model, quantify and understand the variables and dynamics that underlie the well-known extreme behaviour of spot electricity prices in wholesale markets. We explicitly model the conditional volatility and skewness of electricity prices. A GARCH-type model allowing for time-varying volatility and skewness, which is estimated assuming a Gram-Charlier expansion of the normal density function, is presented. This model is applied to data from Pennsylvania- New Jersey, NordPool and Victoria (Australia) markets. We document the existence of a rich structure in the conditional skewness of spot prices and we show the relationship between skewness and demand-supply related variables.
Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce Modeling the Antecedents of Internet Banking Service Adoption (ibsa) in Jordan: a Structural Equation Modeling (sem) Approach

After ten years from the introduction of the Internet Banking Services (IBS) by Jordanian banks, the adoption of these services is still quite low. Hence, identifying success factors (SF) to improve the level of IBS adoption is crucial. This paper is concerned with an empirical investigation of success factors that could predict successful IBSA in Jordan through applications of Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT). The research model consists-2-of six exogenous variables: perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, compatibility, trialability, trust and awareness and one endogenous: IBSA. 700 questionnaires survey among university staff was implemented and 532 data sets were collected. This represents 76% response rate. After rigorous data screening process such as outliers, normality, reliability and validity, 517 data is ready for structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed to examine the composite reliability, convergent validity and goodness of fit of individual construct and measurement models. The revised structural model demonstrates significant and positive direct relationships between all of six exogenous variables and IBSA.