Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Physics of Cavity solitons in semiconductor microcavities

We start by reviewing the basic physical properties of cavity solitons, embedding this phenomenon in the general framework of optical instabilities and optical pattern formation. Next, we focus on the case of semiconductor microcavities and consider a first principle model. Its homogeneous stationary solutions and their stability are evaluated analytically. With the help of numerical simulations, we discuss two case studies, one in the passive and one in the active configuration.
ReachOut.com: The role of an online service for promoting help-seeking in young people

Abstract Considerable investment over the last decade in strategies to improve mental health and wellbeing in Australia has seen a notable increase in the availability and awareness of youth-specific mental health services as well as an increase in mental health literacy among young people. However, national statistics do not reflect a corresponding increase in help-seeking behaviour among young people. There is limited understanding of how services can promote effective help-seeking in young people – particularly those young people experiencing marginalisation or high levels of psychological distress. In this paper we examine the potential for online mental health services to address the persistent challenge of facilitating help-seeking in young people. This paper presents findings from a study of young people’s use of the online service, ReachOut.com, to examine if and how the service promotes help-seeking. We find that ReachOut.com effectively engages young people – particularly those who are experiencing high levels of psychological distress and supports young people to become service ready. Targeted strategies for young men and other hard-to-reach groups as well as further integration with on and offl ine clinical services are likely to strengthen and systematise the role of ReachOut.com as a gateway service, supporting young people to seek professional support.
20 years of performance measurement in sustainable supply chain management – what has been achieved?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the academic literature on sustainability performance measurement for sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) published over the past 20 years. The development and current state of instruments, concepts and systems to measure and manage sustainability performance are examined and research gaps are identified. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic literature review is conducted spanning two decades of publications in peer-reviewed academic journals. The publications are analyzed with regard to frequency and bibliometrical metrics and research content. Findings – The research examines the development of the field over 20 years, which has witnessed a steep rise in related publications only for the past five years, indicating a late interest in the area compared to other sustainability topics. Social performance measures entered the discussion particularly late, whereas economic and environmental measurement almost exclusively dominated t.
Degradation of storage phosphor images due to scanning delay.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the degradation of storage phosphor images relative to scanning delay. METHODS A series of exposures of an aluminium step-wedge with five 2 mm incremental steps were made using blue Digora storage phosphor plates (SPPs). After the first exposure the plates were immediately scanned. After the second the plates were scanned after a half hour delay, after the third after a 1 h delay and so on until a final delay of 8 h. Mean grey values (MGVs) of each step of the wedge and its background were compared using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Difference between group means was assessed using Bonferroni/Dunn multiple comparison test (P<0.05). RESULTS MGVs increased with the increase in scan delay. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed that MGVs of the background and each step of the wedge were significantly different from each other for all scan delays (P<0.0001). Bonferroni/Dunn test showed that MGVs from plates scanned half an hour after exposure were not significantly different from those scanned immediately (P>0.05). Longer delays gave rise to significant differences in MGVs (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Digora SPPs show statistically significant degradation of grey level values and contrast in plates scanned half an hour or longer after exposure.
Purchasing and Supply Chain Management: Analysis, Strategy, Planning and Practice

PART ONE: CORE CONCEPTS Chapter 1: The role of purchasing in the value chain Chapter 2: Industrial buying behaviour: decision-making in purchasing Chapter 3: The purchasing management process Chapter 4: Purchasing and facilities management Chapter 5: Buying business services Chapter 6: Public procurement Chapter 7: Market structures and supply market research PART TWO: STRATEGY AND PLANNING Chapter 8: Outsourcing and risk management Chapter 9: Purchasing and business strategy Chapter 10: Category sourcing: getting better performance from suppliers Chapter 11: Purchasing, innovation and quality management Chapter 12: Purchasing, logistics and supply chain management Chapter 13: Organization and structure of purchasing Chapter 14: Performance measurement and governance in purchasing PART THREE: IMPLEMENTATION Chapter 15: Preparing for partnership with suppliers: cost approaches and techniques Chapter 16: Buying and supply management in retail Chapter 17: Purchasing, corporate social responsibility and ethics
The U.S. Debt Restructuring of 1933: Consequences and Lessons

In 1933, the U.S. unilaterally restructured its debt by declaring that it would no longer honor the gold clause in Treasury securities. We study the effects of the abrogation of the gold clause on sovereign debt markets, the Treasury's ability to issue new debt, investors' willingness to hold Treasury bonds, and on the Treasury's borrowing costs. We find that the restructuring was followed by a flight to quality in the sovereign market. Despite this, there was little effect on the Treasury's ability to sell new debt or the willingness of investors to roll over restructured debt. The Treasury incurred a marginally higher cost of capital by issuing new bonds without the gold clause.
Bringing High Technology to Market: Successful Strategies Employed in the Worldwide Software Industry

The launch stage can be critical for many new products, but particularly so for technology-intensive ones. This study examines this key stage in a high-tech sector: the worldwide computer software industry. Using a research instrument developed across a number of high-tech sectors, but adapted to the targeted sector, it describes a worldwide telephone-based survey of 300 organizations, resulting in 190 interviews, a response rate of 63%. It shows that five distinct and interpretable strategies are employed: (1) alliance strategy involves forming early strategic alliances as well as tactical alliances at the execution stage together with the development of unique distribution channels; (2) targeted low risk attempts to reduce the risk of adoption among identified segments by producing versions of the product specifically customized to the segments; (3) low-price original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is the only price-driven strategy and combines low price with channel building to OEMs who are looking for attractive price-to-performance ratios; (4) broadly based market preparation is an early-stage strategy that concentrates on educating the market vis-a-vis the technology and developing channels; and (5) niche-based technological superiority uses a technologically superior product to dominate a niche and corresponds closely to the chasm-crossing strategy expounded by Moore and others. Regarding superior product performance, successful software companies first of all engage in a broadly based preparation of the market but switch to a targeted strategy at the following stages of positioning and execution, built around superior technological performance and reduced risk. A somewhat different mix of strategies is adopted when the objective is superior market development, namely opening up new markets, reaching new customers, and developing new product platforms. Again the mix includes broadly based market preparation, this time along with alliances. This strategy is very much about working with partners. The broadly based market preparation strategy is key for both objectives, is long term in nature, and avoids narrowly defined niches. It seems that starting broad based and narrowing down, perhaps to a niche, only at a later stage when this is clearly the appropriate thing to do, pays dividends.
Factors and Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS) that Predict Older Adults’ Residential Transitions

Objectives: This study identified specific personal factors and home- and community-based services (HCBS) that predict older adults’ residential transitions between community and institutional settings. Method: Logistic regression of interview data from 5294 participants in the Second Longitudinal Study of Aging identified predictors of three residential transition patterns and of frequency and duration of institutional services use. Results: Different HCBS services differently affected residential transitions. Informal support and paid personal care services (PCS) were the main factors affecting older adults’ ability to reside in community settings or to remain in community longer. Frequency of HCBS use and quantity of paid PCS used indicated direction of transitions: from communities into institutions or vice versa. Discussion: Integration of informal and formal care systems and attention to community-dwelling older adults’ HCBS use and paid PCS use, as a guide for possible future transitions, are tasks for community care professionals.
Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) downregulates interleukin (IL)-1alpha-induced IL-6 production via EP2/EP4 subtypes of PGE2 receptors in human periodontal ligament cells.

OBJECTIVES Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) exerts its biological actions via EP receptors, which are divided into four subtypes, EP1, EP2, EP3 and EP4. In the present study, we examined whether PGE2 regulated interleukin (IL)-1alpha-induced IL-6 production in human periodontal ligament (PDL) cells and if so, which subtypes of PGE2 receptors were involved. METHODS PDL cells were stimulated with vehicle or IL-1alpha in the presence or absence of indomethacin (a cylooxygenase inhibitor), PGE2 or various EP agonists. IL-6 and PGE2 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. EP receptor mRNA expression was examined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS Indomethacin significantly enhanced IL-1alpha-induced IL-6 production by PDL cells, although it completely inhibited IL-1alpha-induced PGE2 production. Exogenous PGE2 significantly suppressed IL-1alpha-induced IL-6 production. Butaprost, a selective EP2 agonist, and ONO-AE1-329, a selective EP4 agonist, significantly inhibited IL-1alpha-induced IL-6 production, although 17-phenyl-omega-trinor PGE2, an EP1 agonist, and ONO-AP-324, an EP3 agonist, did not affect it. RT-PCR analysis showed that EP2 and EP4 mRNA was expressed in PDL cells. CONCLUSIONS We suggest that PGE2 downregulates IL-1alpha-induced IL-6 production via EP2/EP4 receptors in human PDL cells.
Firms, Markets, and the State: Institutional Change and Manufacturing Sector Profitability Variances in India

We assess absolute magnitudes, relative importance, and intertemporal differences in firm, industry, and business group effects in explaining the variance of Indian manufacturing firms' profitability over the 26-year period between 1980-1981 and 2005-2006. We stratify the data by institutional phases to place emphasis on the role of changing institutional factors in an emerging economy: first as a regime of command and control transits to partial liberalization between 1985 and 1991 and then to an open competitive market economy after 1991; thereafter, financial reforms occur, followed by legal reforms. We find that liberalization significantly affects and alters the relative importance of firm, industry, and group effects. Firm effects are always important, whether in a command and control regime, with benefits accruing from protectionism and political rent seeking, or in liberalized periods where firm-specific capabilities and dynamic efficiencies are valued. Industry effects are significant in the command and control regime, when mandatory sector placement benefits firms in industries with superior profits, and in the liberalized period, when the choice of the industry segment in which to operate is open to firms. Thereafter, industry effects dissipate. Business group effects matter in explaining profitability variances. Group effects' magnitudes, however, do not change significantly over time.
p57kip2 expression is related to carcinogenesis and tumor progression in laryngeal tissues

Conclusions. Reduction of p57kip2 expression is related to carcinogenesis in laryngeal mucosa. Assessment of p57kip2 expression may be a promising candidate as a progressive biomarker in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Objective. To investigate the expression and significance of p57kip2 in a dysplasia/carcinoma sequence of laryngeal mucosa. Material and methods. A retrospective study was performed involving 10 cases of normal mucosa, 31 of laryngeal leukoplakia and 109 of laryngeal SCC. p57kip2 and p53 protein expression was detected in the tissue samples of these patients using immunohistochemistry. Results. p57kip2 expression was decreased in leukoplakia with moderate or severe dysplasia, and further decreased in SCC. No significant difference was found between normal mucosa and leukoplakia with no or mild dysplasia. In patients with laryngeal SCC, advanced tumor size and clinical stage and the recurrence of disease were associated with reduced p57kip2 expression. The occurrence of lymph node metastasis was also related to negative expression of p57kip2. The overall 5-year disease-free survival rate of patients with laryngeal SCC was significantly higher in the p57kip2-positive than in the p57kip2-negative group.
Three essays on information intermediaries in the financial market

The paper investigates the relation between a firm‟s visibility in blog spaces, termed blog exposure, and the cross-sectional stock returns. I show that blog exposure is fundamentally different from the traditional media coverage, and securities with low blog exposure earn higher returns than stocks with high blog exposure. Contrary to traditional media coverage, the return premium associated with blog exposure cannot be explained by either the illiquidity hypothesis or the investor recognition hypothesis based on rational agent framework. Instead, the results suggest that blog effect can be attributed to the limited attention theory and cannot be arbitraged due to investors‟ self attribution and short-sales constraints. I document the blog based abnormal return is due to mis-pricing which will reverse later, not compensation for risk factor. This research points out the importance of blogs in information dissemination, especially for the stocks with limited attention.
Risky Recombinations: Institutional Gatekeeping in the Innovation Process

Theories of innovation and technical change posit that inventions that combine knowledge across technology domains have greater impact than inventions drawn from a single domain. The evidence for this claim comes mostly from research on patented inventions and ignores failed patent applications. We draw on insights from research into institutional gatekeeping to theorize that, to be granted, patent applications that span technological domains must be better than otherwise-comparable, narrower applications. Using data on failed and successful patent applications, we estimate an integrated, two-stage model that accounts for differential selection. We find that more domain-spanning patent applications are less likely to be approved, and that controlling for this differential selection reduces the estimated effect of knowledge recombination on innovation impact by about a third. By conceptualizing the patent-approval process as a form of institutional gatekeeping, this paper highlights the institutional underpinnings of and constraints on the innovation process.
Evaluation of the Braak hypothesis: how far can it explain the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease?

Braak’s proposal that, in patients with Parkinson’s disease, Lewy bodies and neurites progressively invade the brain through regions connected to autonomic and olfactory centers remains contentious. Confounding factors include the lack of an in vivo marker to examine the progression of Lewy pathology, the retrospective nature or absence of clinical information for many cross-sectional pathological datasets, and for those with limited disease (clinically or neuropathologically), the absence of information concerning additional conditions. Despite these data limitations at this time, the brain pathology for most patients with typical Parkinson’s disease can be predicted using Braak’s scheme. What this tells us about the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease will be explored in this review.
Transition to a market orientation in China: preliminary evidence

– The research objective was to assess the challenges of transition that firms face in adopting a market orientation in China, as the basis for providing a context‐specific explanation of market orientation. , – A sample from the He Bei Light Industry Directory was selected by the systematic‐selection‐from‐lists procedure. The survey instrument was adapted from the widely used MARKOR scale. , – Although some of the early results are consistent with those obtained in the West, an underlying lacuna needs to be addressed in order for a useful culture‐sensitive interpretation of market orientation to be offered vis‐a‐vis locale‐specific knowledge. , – While there can be little doubt that market orientation delivers superior performance in developed western economies, implementations in many transition‐economy contexts reveal a range of paradoxes, which point to some gaps in both the theory and practice of marketing. , – A useful explanation of market orientation in transition economies should necessarily embed an approach that accommodates the institutional peculiarities of the environment under study, focusing the temporal, spatial and wider socio‐cultural and historical characteristics of marketing itself.
Thioredoxin, a master regulator of the tricarboxylic acid cycle in plant mitochondria

Significance The present work extends redox-based change in enzyme activity to the TCA cycle of plant mitochondria. Thioredoxin (TRX) was found to regulate the activity of enzymes of the mitochondrial cycle (succinate dehydrogenase and fumarase) and of an enzyme associated with it (ATP-citrate lyase) by modulating thiol redox status. A combination of experiments based on mutant and carbon isotope labeling analyses provides evidence that flux through this pathway is coordinately modulated by TRX at the enzyme level of both mitochondria and cytosol. The results provide in vivo confirmation of earlier in vitro results and further show that mitochondria resemble plastids in using TRX and redox status to regulate the main carbon flux pathway of the organelle. Plant mitochondria have a fully operational tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle that plays a central role in generating ATP and providing carbon skeletons for a range of biosynthetic processes in both heterotrophic and photosynthetic tissues. The cycle enzyme-encoding genes have been well characterized in terms of transcriptional and effector-mediated regulation and have also been subjected to reverse genetic analysis. However, despite this wealth of attention, a central question remains unanswered: “What regulates flux through this pathway in vivo? ” Previous proteomic experiments with Arabidopsis discussed below have revealed that a number of mitochondrial enzymes, including members of the TCA cycle and affiliated pathways, harbor thioredoxin (TRX)-binding sites and are potentially redox-regulated. We have followed up on this possibility and found TRX to be a redox-sensitive mediator of TCA cycle flux. In this investigation, we first characterized, at the enzyme and metabolite levels, mutants of the mitochondrial TRX pathway in Arabidopsis: the NADP-TRX reductase a and b double mutant (ntra ntrb) and the mitochondrially located thioredoxin o1 (trxo1) mutant. These studies were followed by a comparative evaluation of the redistribution of isotopes when 13C-glucose, 13C-malate, or 13C-pyruvate was provided as a substrate to leaves of mutant or WT plants. In a complementary approach, we evaluated the in vitro activities of a range of TCA cycle and associated enzymes under varying redox states. The combined dataset suggests that TRX may deactivate both mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase and fumarase and activate the cytosolic ATP-citrate lyase in vivo, acting as a direct regulator of carbon flow through the TCA cycle and providing a mechanism for the coordination of cellular function.
Ghrelin gene polymorphisms and ghrelin, insulin, IGF-I, leptin and anthropometric data in children and adolescents.

BACKGROUND Previous investigations on the ghrelin gene reported three common polymorphisms (Arg51Gln, Leu72Met, and Gln90Leu), but their role in overweight and obese individuals remains to be clarified. OBJECTIVE To ascertain whether these genetic variants could influence ghrelin secretion and play a part in predisposing to earlier onset of obesity or in modulating the overweight phenotype in childhood. DESIGN AND METHODS Mutational analysis of the entire ghrelin gene and total and acylated plasma determinations were performed in 81 obese or overweight children and adolescents (46 were obese and 35 overweight: Ob/Ow). We also recruited 168 normal-weight healthy controls (72 young adults and 96 children) for mutational or plasma ghrelin analysis. RESULTS Median total and acylated plasma ghrelin concentrations were significantly lower in Ob/Ow individuals than in controls (175 pg/ml compared with 345 pg/ml, P<0.0001, and 95 pg/ml compared with 114 pg/ml, P<0.0001, respectively). The ghrelin gene variants showed similar allele frequencies in the Ob/Ow individuals and in controls; in the former, they were not associated with any change in total and acylated circulating ghrelin concentrations or anthropometric data. The Leu72Met status was associated with a positive family history for obesity (75% for Leu72Met compared with 39% for Leu72Leu, P=0.03) and with a greater percentage of newborns born 'large for gestational age' (33% for Leu72Met compared with 5% for Leu72Leu, P=0.03), but in the control group it was related to a lower mean body mass index z-score (-0.03 for Leu72Met and -0.47 for Leu72Leu, P=0.04). CONCLUSION Our present findings do not support the hypothesis that the ghrelin gene polymorphisms have a relevant impact in the secretion of total and acylated ghrelin.