Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Knowledge Management, Codification and Tacit Knowledge

This article returns to a theme addressed in Vol. 8(1) October 2002: knowledge management and the problem of managing tacit knowledge. The article is primarily a review and analysis of the literature associated with the management of knowledge. In particular, it focuses on the works of a group of economists who have studied the transformation of knowledge into information through the process of codification and the knowledge transaction topography they have developed to describe this. The article explores the theoretical and philosophical antecedents of the economists' views. It uses this as a basis for examining the dominant views of knowledge that appear in much of the literature on knowledge management and for performing a critical evaluation of their work. The results of the analysis centre upon the question of when is it appropriate to codify knowledge. They present a basic summary of the costs and benefits of codification before looking in more detail at its desirability. The conclusions concern the implications of the above for knowledge management and the management of tacit knowledge. They deal with the nature of knowledge management, some of the reasons why knowledge management projects fail to achieve their expectations and the potential problems of codification as a strategy for knowledge management.
Anterior capsulotomy improves persistent developmental stuttering with a psychiatric disorder: a case report and literature review

Stuttering is characterized by disrupted fluency of verbal expression, and occurs mostly in children. Persistent developmental stuttering (PDS) may occur in adults. Reports of the surgical management of PDS are limited. Here we present the case of a 28-year-old man who had had PDS since the age of 7 years, was diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorder at the age of 24 years, and had physical concomitants. He underwent a bilateral anterior capsulotomy 4 years after the diagnosis. Over one year of follow-up, his physical concomitants resolved, and significant improvements in his psychiatric disorders and PDS were observed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of simultaneous improvement in a patient’s PDS and psychiatric disorder after a bilateral anterior capsulotomy.
The diffractive achromat full spectrum computational imaging with diffractive optics

Diffractive optical elements (DOEs) have recently drawn great attention in computational imaging because they can drastically reduce the size and weight of imaging devices compared to their refractive counterparts. However, the inherent strong dispersion is a tremendous obstacle that limits the use of DOEs in full spectrum imaging, causing unacceptable loss of color fidelity in the images. In particular, metamerism introduces a data dependency in the image blur, which has been neglected in computational imaging methods so far. We introduce both a diffractive achromat based on computational optimization, as well as a corresponding algorithm for correction of residual aberrations. Using this approach, we demonstrate high fidelity color diffractive-only imaging over the full visible spectrum. In the optical design, the height profile of a diffractive lens is optimized to balance the focusing contributions of different wavelengths for a specific focal length. The spectral point spread functions (PSFs) become nearly identical to each other, creating approximately spectrally invariant blur kernels. This property guarantees good color preservation in the captured image and facilitates the correction of residual aberrations in our fast two-step deconvolution without additional color priors. We demonstrate our design of diffractive achromat on a 0.5mm ultrathin substrate by photolithography techniques. Experimental results show that our achromatic diffractive lens produces high color fidelity and better image quality in the full visible spectrum.
Cytokines and STATs in Liver Fibrosis

Liver fibrosis, or cirrhosis, is a common end-stage condition of many chronic liver diseases after incomplete recovery from hepatocyte damage. During fibrosis progression, hepatocellular damage and inflammation trigger complex cellular events that result in collagen deposition and the disruption of the normal liver architecture. Hepatic stellate cell activation and transdifferentiation into myofibroblasts are key events in liver fibrogenesis. Research findings from cell culture and animal models have revealed that the Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (Jak-STAT) signaling pathway, which can be activated by many cytokines, growth factors, and hormones, plays a critical role in hepatic fibrogenesis. This review summarizes the biological significance of diverse cytokines and their downstream signaling protein STATs in hepatic fibrogenesis.
Mortality in chronic kidney disease and renal replacement therapy: a population-based cohort study

Objective To compare mortality in chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 4 and 5 (estimated glomerular filtration rate <30 mL/min/1.73 m2), peritoneal dialysis, haemodialysis and transplanted patients. Design Population-based cohort study. Setting Swedish national healthcare system. Participants Swedish adult patients with CKD stages 4 and 5 (n=3040; mean age 66 years), peritoneal dialysis (n=725; 60 years), haemodialysis (n=1791; 62 years) and renal transplantation (n=606; 48 years) were identified in Stockholm County clinical quality registers for renal disease between 1999 and 2010. Five general population controls were matched to each patient by age, sex and index year. Exposure CKD status (stage 4 or 5/peritoneal dialysis/haemodialysis/transplanted). Primary outcome All-cause mortality was ascertained from the Swedish Causes of Death Register. Mortality HRs were estimated using Cox regression conditioned on age, sex, diabetes status, education level and index year. Results During 6553 person-years, 766 patients with CKD stages 4 and 5 died (deaths/100 person-years 12, 95% CI 11 to 13) compared with 186 deaths during 1113 person-years in peritoneal dialysis (17, 95% CI 15 to 19), 924 deaths during 3680 person-years in haemodialysis (25, 95% CI 23 to 27) and 53 deaths during 2935 person-years in transplanted patients (1.8, 95% CI 1.4 to 2.4). Against matched general population controls, the mortality HR was 3.6 (95% CI 3.2 to 4.0) for CKD, 5.6 (95% CI 3.5 to 8.9) for transplanted patients, 9.2 (95% CI 6.6 to 12.7) for peritoneal dialysis and 12.6 (95% CI 10.8 to 14.6) for haemodialysis. In direct comparison versus CKD, the mortality HR was 1.7 (95% CI 1.4 to 2.1) for peritoneal dialysis, 2.6 (95% CI 2.3 to 2.9) for haemodialysis and 0.5 (95% CI 0.3 to 0.7) for transplanted patients. Conclusions We did not find support for mortality in CKD to be similar to dialysis mortality. The patients with CKD stages 4 and 5 had considerably lower mortality risk than dialysis patients, and considerably higher risk than transplanted patients and matched general population controls.
Virulence of Group A Streptococci Is Enhanced by Human Complement Inhibitors

Streptococcus pyogenes, also known as Group A Streptococcus (GAS), is an important human bacterial pathogen that can cause invasive infections. Once it colonizes its exclusively human host, GAS needs to surmount numerous innate immune defense mechanisms, including opsonization by complement and consequent phagocytosis. Several strains of GAS bind to human-specific complement inhibitors, C4b-binding protein (C4BP) and/or Factor H (FH), to curtail complement C3 (a critical opsonin) deposition. This results in diminished activation of phagocytes and clearance of GAS that may lead to the host being unable to limit the infection. Herein we describe the course of GAS infection in three human complement inhibitor transgenic (tg) mouse models that examined each inhibitor (human C4BP or FH) alone, or the two inhibitors together (C4BPxFH or ‘double’ tg). GAS infection with strains that bound C4BP and FH resulted in enhanced mortality in each of the three transgenic mouse models compared to infection in wild type mice. In addition, GAS manifested increased virulence in C4BPxFH mice: higher organism burdens and greater elevations of pro-inflammatory cytokines and they died earlier than single transgenic or wt controls. The effects of hu-C4BP and hu-FH were specific for GAS strains that bound these inhibitors because strains that did not bind the inhibitors showed reduced virulence in the ‘double’ tg mice compared to strains that did bind; mortality was also similar in wild-type and C4BPxFH mice infected by non-binding GAS. Our findings emphasize the importance of binding of complement inhibitors to GAS that results in impaired opsonization and phagocytic killing, which translates to enhanced virulence in a humanized whole animal model. This novel hu-C4BPxFH tg model may prove invaluable in studies of GAS pathogenesis and for developing vaccines and therapeutics that rely on human complement activation for efficacy.
Thermal Stability of Quaternary Phosphonium Modified Montmorillonites

Organically modified layered silicates (OLS) with high thermal stability are critical for synthesis and processing of polymer layered silicate nanocomposites (PLSN). In the current study, the non-oxidative thermal degradation chemistry of alkyl and aryl quaternary phosphonium-modified montmorillonites (P-MMT) was examined using TGA combined with pyrolysis/GC-MS. The morphology evolution at elevated temperature was investigated using in-situ high-temperature X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The onset decomposition temperature via TGA of these P-MMTs ranged from 190 to 230 °C. The initial degradation of the alkyl P-MMTs follows potentially two reaction pathways - ‚-elimination [E‚] and nucleophilic displacement at phosphorus [SN(P)] reflecting the multiple environments of the surfactant in the silicate. Aryl P-MMT decomposition proceeds via either a reductive elimination through a five-coordinate intermediate or radical generation through homologous cleavage of the P-phenyl bond. Overall, the interlayer environment of the montmorillonite has a more severe effect on stability of the phosphonium surfactant than previously reported for ammonium-modified montmorillonite (N-MMT). Nonetheless, the overall thermal stability of P-MMT is higher than that of N-MMT. These observations indicate that, in addition to their conventional purpose as stabilizers, phosphonium salts offer unique opportunities for melting processing polymer layered silicate nanocomposites.
Meaningful Learning and Transfer of Learning in Games Played Repeatedly Without Feedback

Psychologists have long recognized two kinds of learning: one that is relatively shallow and domain-specific; and another that is deeper, producing generalizable insights that transfer across domains. The game theory literature has only recently considered this distinction, and the conditions that stimulate the latter kind of "meaningful" learning in games are still unclear. Three experiments demonstrate that one kind of meaningful learning -- acquisition of iterated dominance -- occurs in the absence of any feedback. We demonstrate that such feedback-free meaningful learning transfers to new strategically similar games, and that such transfer does not typically occur when initial games are played with feedback. The effects of withholding feedback are similar to, and substitutable with, those produced by requiring players to explain their behavior, a method commonly employed in psychology to increase deliberation. This similarity suggests that withholding feedback encourages deeper thinking about the game in a manner similar to such self-explanation.
Inhalation exposure systems for the development of rodent models of sulfur mustard-induced pulmonary injury

Sulfur mustard (SM) is a chemical threat agent for which its effects have no current treatment. Due to the ease of synthesis and dispersal of this material, the need to develop therapeutics is evident. The present manuscript details the techniques used to develop SM laboratory exposure systems for the development of animal models of pulmonary injury. These models are critical for evaluating SM injury and developing therapeutics against that injury. Iterative trials were conducted to optimize a lung injury model. The resulting pathology was used as a guide, with a goal of effecting homogeneous and diffuse lung injury comparable to that of human injury. Inhalation exposures were conducted by either nose-only inhalation or intubated inhalation. The exposures were conducted to either directly vaporized SM or SM that was nebulized from an ethanol solution. Inhalation of SM by nose-only inhalation resulted in severe nasal epithelial degeneration and minimal lung injury. The reactivity of SM did not permit it to transit past the upper airways to promote lower airway injury. Intratracheal inhalation of SM vapors at a concentration of 5400 mg · min/m3 resulted in homogeneous lung injury with no nasal degeneration.
An L1 Penalty Method for General Obstacle Problems

We construct an efficient numerical scheme for solving obstacle problems in divergence form. The numerical method is based on a reformulation of the obstacle in terms of an $L^1$-like penalty on the variational problem. The reformulation is an exact regularizer in the sense that for a large (but finite) penalty parameter, we recover the exact solution. Our formulation is applied to classical elliptic obstacle problems as well as some related free boundary problems, for example, the two-phase membrane problem and the Hele--Shaw model. One advantage of the proposed method is that the free boundary inherent in the obstacle problem arises naturally in our energy minimization without any need for problem specific or complicated discretization. In addition, our scheme also works for nonlinear variational inequalities arising from convex minimization problems.
Production, Characterization and Antibacterial Activity of Mucor rouxii DSM-119 Chitosan

The production, purification and antibacterial effect of chitosan from Mucor rouxii strain DSM-1191 were investigated throughout current study. Chitosan was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, titration and average molecular weight. Furthermore, the antibacterial activity of chitosan produced from Mucor rouxii DSM-1191, against Escherichia coli and Micrococcus leutus was determined. Scanning electron micrographs of treated Micrococcus leutus with fungal chitosan are also presented.
Rectal biopsy as an aid in the diagnosis of Hirschsprung's disease.

THE diagnosis of Hirschsprung's disease is not always easy. The patient presenting a typical history of chronic constipation, with physical signs of a distended abdomen and an empty rectal ampulla, who has a widely dilated colon with a narrow distal segment on barium-enema examination constitutes no diagnostic problem. However, in cases in which part of the diagnostic criteria are absent or inconclusive, the problem of diagnosis is particularly difficult. Rectal biopsy is offered as an aid in the diagnosis of these cases. In the study of 169 patients with congenital megacolon several indications for rectal biopsy have occurred. One of .
Joint Bandwidth Allocation and Connection Admission Control for Polling Services in IEEE 802.16 Broadband Wireless Networks

Although the medium access control (MAC) protocol and the physical layer are well defined in IEEE 802.16 standard, bandwidth allocation (BA) and connection admission control (CAC) remain as open research issues. In this paper, we present a joint adaptive bandwidth allocation and connection admission control method for real-time and non-real-time polling services in the IEEE 802.16-based broadband wireless networks which use adaptaive modulation and coding at the physical layer. This method is based on an optimization-based approach where the in-connection (i.e., packet-level) performances (i.e., delay and transmission rate for real-time and non-real-time polling services, respectively) are used as cost functions and decision criteria for allocating bandwidth and for accepting or blocking a new connection, respectively. A queueing model is used to analyze transmission delay and transmission rate under adaptive modulation and coding. Binary integer programming is used to obtain the solutions for the optimization formulation. Typical performance results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed scheme over traditional static and adaptive band-width allocation schemes.
Activation of sirtuin 1/3 improves vascular hyporeactivity in severe hemorrhagic shock by alleviation of mitochondrial damage

Vascular hyporeactivity is one of the major causes responsible for refractory hypotension and associated mortality in severe hemorrhagic shock. Mitochondrial permeability transition (mPT) pore opening in arteriolar smooth muscle cells (ASMCs) is involved in the pathogenesis of vascular hyporeactivity. However, the molecular mechanism underlying mitochondrial injury in ASMCs during hemorrhagic shock is not well understood. Here we produced an in vivo model of severe hemorrhagic shock in adult Wistar rats. We found that sirtuin (SIRT)1/3 protein levels and deacetylase activities were decreased in ASMCs following severe shock. Immunofluorescence staining confirmed reduced levels of SIRT1 in the nucleus and SIRT3 in the mitochondria, respectively. Acetylation of cyclophilin D (CyPD), a component of mPT pore, was increased. SIRT1 activators suppressed mPT pore opening and ameliorated mitochondrial injury in ASMCs after severe shock. Furthermore, administration of SIRT1 activators improved vasoreactivity in rats under severe shock. Our data suggest that epigenetic mechanisms, namely histone post-translational modifications, are involved in regulation of mPT by SIRT1/SIRT3- mediated deacetylation of CyPD. SIRT1/3 is a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of severe hemorrhagic shock.
Boundedness of Automorphic L-Functions in Vertical Strips

The purpose of this paper is to prove the boundedness in vertical strips of finite width for all the L-functions that appear in constant terms of Eisenstein series, under a certain natural assumption on local normalized intertwining operators. As a corollary, we prove the boundedness for a number of important L-functions, among them the symmetic cube and triple product L-functions attached to cusp forms on GL(2), as well as several Rankin-Selberg product L-functions, where the local assumption was alredy proved to be valid in each case. Under the same assumption, the finiteness of poles on all of C for all of these L-functions is also proved, a necessary step in the proof of boundedness in vertical strips.
Neurodegeneration, Neuronal Loss, and Neurotransmitter Changes in the Adult Guinea Pig with Perinatal Asphyxia

There is only limited morphologic information on long-term alterations and neurotransmitter changes after perinatal asphyxia, and no long-term study showing neurodegeneration has been reported so far. We used an animal model for perinatal asphyxia well documented in the rat to investigate the guinea pig as a species highly mature at birth. Cesarean section was performed on full-term pregnant guinea pigs, and pups, still in membranes, were placed into a water bath at 37°C for asphyxia periods from 2 to 4 min. Thereafter pups were given to surrogate mothers and examined at 3 mo of age. We studied brain areas reported to be hypoxia-sensitive. Neurodegeneration was evaluated by fluoro-jade, neuronal loss by Nissl, reactive gliosis by glial fibrillary acidic protein staining, and differentiation by neuroendocrine-specific protein C immunoreactivity. We tested tyrosine hydroxylase, the vesicular monoamine transporter, and dopamine β-hydroxylase, representing the monoaminergic system; the vesicular acetylcholine transporter; and the excitatory amino acid carrier 1. Neurodegeneration was evident in cerebellum, hippocampal area CA1, and hypothalamus, and neuronal loss could be observed in cerebellum and hypothalamus; gliosis was observed in cerebellum, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and parietal cortex; dedifferentiation was found in hypothalamus and striatum; and monoaminergic, cholinergic, and amino acidergic deficits were shown in several brain regions. The major finding of the present study was that neurodegeneration and dedifferentiation evolved in the guinea pig, a species highly mature at birth. The relevance of this contribution is that a simple animal model of perinatal asphyxia resembling the clinical situation of intrauterine hypoxia-ischemia and presenting with neurodegeneration was characterized.
Heat-induced changes in intracellular Na+, pH and bioenergetic status in superfused RIF-1 tumour cells determined by 23Na and 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy

The acute effects of hyperthermia on intracellular Na+ (Na), bioenergetic status and intracellular pH (pHi) were investigated in superfused Radiation Induced Fibrosarcoma–1 (RIF-1) tumour cells using shift-reagent-aided 23Na and 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Hyperthermia at 45°C for 30 min produced a 50% increase in Na, a 0.42 unit decrease in pHi and a 40–45% decrease in NTP/Pi. During post-hyperthermia superfusion at 37°C, pHi and NTP/Pi recovered to the baseline value, but Na initially decreased and then increased to the hyperthermic level 60 min after heating. Hyperthermia at 42°C caused only a 15–20% increase in Na. In the presence of 3 µM 5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl)amiloride (EIPA), an inhibitor of the Na+/H+ exchanger, the increase in Na during 45°C hyperthermia was attenuated, suggesting that the heat-induced increase in Na was mainly due to an increase in Na+/H+ anti-porter activity. EIPA did not prevent hyperthermia-induced acidification. This suggests that pHi is controlled by other ion exchange mechanisms in addition to the Na+/H+ exchanger. EIPA increased the thermo-sensitivity of the RIF-1 tumour cells only slightly as measured by cell viability and clonogenic assays. The hyperthermia-induced irreversible increase in Na suggests that changes in transmembrane ion gradients play an important role in cell damage induced by hyperthermia.
Phosphorylated C/EBPβ Influences a Complex Network Involving YY1 and USF2 in Lung Epithelial Cells

The promoter of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene CFTR is tightly controlled by regulators including CCAAT/enhancer binding proteins (C/EBPs). We previously reported that the transcription factors YY1 and USF2 affect CFTR expression. We can now demonstrate that C/EBPβ, a member of the CCAAT family, binds to the CFTR promoter and contributes to its transcriptional activity. Our data reveal that C/EBPβ cooperates with USF2 and acts antagonistically to YY1 in the control of CFTR expression. Interestingly, YY1, a strong repressor, fails to repress the CFTR activation induced by USF2 through DNA binding competition. Collectively, the data strongly suggest a model by which USF2 functionally interacts with YY1 blocking its inhibitory activity, in favour of C/EBPβ transactivation. Further investigation into the interactions between these three proteins revealed that phosphorylation of C/EBPβ influences the DNA occupancy of YY1 and favours the interaction between USF2 and YY1. This phosphorylation process has several implications in the CFTR transcriptional process, thus evoking an additional layer of complexity to the mechanisms influencing CFTR gene regulation.