Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
2 CONNECTIONS FOR PRECAST CONCRETE LOAD-BEARING SHEAR WALL PANELS

Precast load-bearing shear wall panels are used extensively for high-rise construction because of the ease and speed of assembly, and the high quality of the precast panels. The connections between panels are extremely important since they affect both the speed of erection '~md the overall integrity of the structure. This paper presents the results of a four-year research program conducted to investigate the behaviour and the capacity of nine connection configurations used for precast load-bearing shear wall panels subjected to monotonic shear loading. The different configurations include two types of dry-packed multiple shear keys. dry-packed plain surface. dry-packed plain surface with continuity reinforcement, dry-packed with two types of mechanical shear connectors in addition to the continuity bars, dry-packed with post-tensioning. and connections which support hollow-core slab with and without posttensioning. Two different levels of load normal to the connection were used to determine the effects of dead load. Rational mathematical models were developed to predict the shear capacity of the connections at the maximum and ultimate limit states. These models were found to be in good agreement with the experimental results. ,. The research findings of this investigation were implemented in the design and construction of three 32-stories apartment buildings in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The connections considered in this study provided significant savings in construction time and cost. 1 Engineering Manager. Con-Force Structures, Winnipeg, Manitoba 2 Professor. Civil Engineering Department, University of Manitoba 3 Doctoral Candidate. Civil Engineering Department, University of Manitoba
The Internationalization of Small Firms: A Strategic Entrepreneurship Perspective

Part 1: Conceptual Underpinings 1. Resourceful Internationalization 2. Networks and Internationalization 3. Knowledge and Internationalization 4. Technology and Internationalization Part 2: Exploratory Findings 5. The Indian Software Industry 6. Local Networks and Internationalization 7. Foreign Networks and Internationalization 8. The Internet and Internationalization Part 3: Future Directions 9. MNC Social Capital 10. Future Research Directions
Long-term Survival After Surgical Critical Illness: The Impact of Prolonged Preceding Organ Support Therapy

Objective:To identify the prognostic importance of preceding invasive ventilation, renal replacement therapy, and catecholamine therapy for long-term survivors after surgical critical illness. Summary Background Data:Nothing is known about the effect of preceding intensive care unit (ICU)-related therapies on long-term outcome. Methods:We performed a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of an ICU patient cohort linked to a local database. Adult patients (n = 1462) admitted to a 12-bed ICU between 1993 and 2005, who had an ICU length of stay of more than 4 days, were followed up until the end of the second year after ICU admission. Hazard function was explored by Weibull modeling and likelihood ratio tests. Cox-type structured hazard regression models were used to analyze linear, nonlinear, or time-varying associations of therapeutic variables with 2-year survival time of a patient subgroup, which had survived the period of high hazard. Results:Hazard rate declined exponentially up to day 195 after ICU admission, and became constant thereafter. A total of 808 patients reached this stable stage of their disease forming the study population. Of these patients, 648 (80.2%) were still alive at the end of the second year after ICU admission. Underlying diseases were major determinants for long-term outcome. Long-term mortality was significantly associated with the acute extent of physiological derangement during ICU stay (maximum Apache II score), but was independent from the duration of preceding invasive organ support. Conclusion:In surgical patients with a prolonged ICU length of stay, an exorbitant mortality exists for about half a year after ICU admission. Later on, life expectancy of surviving patients is largely determined by the underlying disease and, to a minor degree, by the acute extent of homeostatic disturbance during ICU stay. The duration of preceding invasive therapies does not limit long-term survival.
Active occlusion-handling for appearance-based object recognition models

Despite extensive research, visual detection of objects in natural scenes is still not robustly solved. The reason for this is the large variation in appearance in which objects or classes occur. A particularly challenging variation is occlusion, which is caused by the constellation of objects in a scene. Occlusion reduces the number of visible features of an object, but also causes accidental features. Current object representations yield acceptable results during a low to medium level of occlusion, but fail for stronger occlusions. This thesis addresses single image-based object recognition during occlusion and proposes different occlusion-handling strategies. Initially, it depicts a holistic discriminative car detection framework, which several chapters use as reference system. Motivated by a label analysis of hand-annotated video traffic scenes, it then presents a car detector, taking car-car constellations into account. The following chapter illustrates a modification of the reference system to cover with more general occlusion constellations. Inspired by the fact that parts-based detection approaches are more robust against occlusion, the next chapter discusses a parts-based car detector with active occlusion-handling at the detection step. At first, this exploits a strategy using the mask of the occluding object to re-weight the score of possible car hypotheses. This is followed by the presentation of an extended version, which especially targets strongly occluded cars. Due to the fact that hand-annotated video streams do not provide pixel-level information about the object instances, this thesis presents a rendered benchmark data set to resolve this issue. The pixel-level information permits intensive evaluation of occlusion-handling strategies. An eye-tracker study also uses this rendered data set to explore how humans cope with the absence of visual object features, and which information they use to deal with occlusion.
Pharmaceutical advertising in the USA: information or influence?

While many parts of pharmaceutical advertisements are regulated, each advertisement also contains a promotional component in which the advertiser conveys information to the consumer. The purpose of this research is to examine the promotional portion of pharmaceutical advertisements to determine whether factual information and rational arguments are being provided to consumers to inform them of health problems, treatment options, and medical science advances. The current research compares the promotional portion of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisements for prescription drugs with advertisements for over-the-counter (OTC) remedies and dietary supplements using content analysis. The results indicate that DTC advertisements do not solely rely on rational appeals; instead, they are using more positive and negative emotional appeals than OTC remedies or dietary supplements. Further, DTC advertisements also feature fewer women in their advertisements, more characters under the age of 18 and primarily Caucasian models.
In vitro Fertilization in Normoresponder Patients with Endometriomas: Comparison with Basal Simple Ovarian Cysts

Objective: To investigate whether the space-occupying effect of an endometrioma, rather than endometriosis itself, affects results in in vitro fertilization (IVF) using women with simple ovarian cysts as the control group. Methods: 85 normoresponder patients with endometriomas of 10–50 mm who underwent IVF treatment directly without initial removal were compared with 83 normoresponder patients with simple ovarian cysts of 10–35 mm detected at the beginning of stimulation and initiated treatment without aspiration. Results: Gonadotropin consumption was higher in the endometrioma group (3,013 vs. 2,451 IU; p = 0.001), although significantly fewer numbers of oocytes were retrieved (13.9 vs. 16.4; p = 0.03). However, oocyte maturation rates were similar. The transferred grade I embryos ratio was evaluated and found to be better in the cyst group (79.7 vs. 70.7%; p = 0.03). Consequently, the implantation rate was found to be significantly higher in the cyst group (28 vs. 19%; p = 0.02), although pregnancy and ongoing pregnancy rates were similar. Conclusion: The presence of an endometriotic cyst during the IVF cycle was demonstrated to be associated with a lower embryo quality and implantation rate, although pregnancy success was unaffected. This adverse effect is suggested to be the result of the disease itself, not the presence of a cystic mass.
Probiotic manipulation of the gastrointestinal microbiota

In a recent publication we examined whether high abundance of a probiotic species, Lactobacillus casei subsp. rhamnosus GG(LGG), impacted the overall composition of the gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota of 6 month-old infants at high risk for asthma development. Profound GI microbiota restructuring and the establishment of significantly more even and putatively, functionally redundant consortia were characteristic of high LGG abundance. Here we discuss, in the context of more recently published data, support for the hypothesis that the beneficial effect of probiotic supplementation on human health lies in the formation of a stable and resilient gut ecosystem enriched for species that exert a concerted beneficial effect on the host immune system via direct and indirect mechanisms.
Brain Neurons Express Ornithine Decarboxylase‐Activating Antizyme Inhibitor 2 with Accumulation in Alzheimer's Disease

Polyamines are small cationic molecules that in adult brain are connected to neuronal signaling by regulating inward‐rectifier K+‐channels and different glutamate receptors. Antizyme inhibitors (AZINs) regulate the cellular uptake of polyamines and activate ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the rate‐limiting enzyme of polyamine synthesis. Elevated levels of ODC activity and polyamines are detected in various brain disorders including stroke and Alzheimer's disease (AD).
p21WAF1 and tumourigenesis: 20 years after

Purpose of review This review provides an overview of the structure, regulation and physiological functions of p21, the product of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1A (CDKN1A) gene, with a focus on its dual role in promoting and repressing biological processes that are hallmarks of tumourigenesis. Recent findings Recent work has provided a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of how oncogenic signalling pathways influence p21 expression. In response to cellular stimuli, p21 expression is tightly regulated at transcriptional and post-translational levels through mechanisms involving RNA stabilization, phosphorylation and ubiquitination. As a result, growing evidence reveals that several important tumour suppressor and oncogenic signalling pathways alter p21 expression to elicit their effects on cell cycle progression and survival. Thus, p21 expression can both promote and inhibit tumourigenic processes, depending on the cellular context. Summary Since its discovery, it has become increasingly clear that p21 can function as both a classical tumour suppressor and an oncogene. In order to effectively utilize p21 as a therapeutic target, it will be necessary to design therapeutic strategies that preferentially block the ability of p21 to promote senescence, stem cell renewal and cyclin/CDK activation, while leaving its tumour suppressive functions intact.
A meta-analysis platform methodology for determining the comparative effectiveness of antihepatitis C virus regimens.

AIM Many hepatitis C virus regimens are unlikely to be compared head to head. In more difficult to treat populations where there is no standard of care, trials are single arm. We describe a flexible meta-analysis platform in this setting. METHODS Our meta-analysis is literature based. We illustrate our methodology and show how inference can be extended to single-arm trials. RESULTS As an example, in the single arm setting, a regimen with response rates of 84, 72 and 54% in genotype 1a across treatment naive, previous partial responders and previous null responders, respectively, would have 95% probability of superiority to IFN-α + RBV + TPV. CONCLUSION This is a rigorous approach to comparative effectiveness that accounts for varying patient populations and plans for the incorporation of emerging treatments.
Evidence for an important role of changes in rather than absolute concentrations of glucagon in the regulation of glucose production in humans.

To evaluate the responsiveness of the liver to various levels of plasma glucagon, we infused glucagon into normal humans at sequentially increasing or decreasing dose levels. In the first series of experiments, glucagon was initially infused at 6 ng⁄kg-min for 150 min and was then reduced to 3 ng⁄kg-min for an additional 150 min. In a second series of studies, the order of the infusions was reversed (3 ng⁄kg-min, followed by 6 ng⁄kg-min). When the 6 ng⁄kg-min infusion was given as the initial dose, plasma glucagon rose 5-fold (to 600–700 pg) and glucose production increased 2-fold, returning to baseline by 75 min. When the glucagon infusion was reduced to 3 ng⁄kgmin, plasma glucagon fell to 300–400 pg⁄ml and glucose production fell 35% below basal, returning to basal rates by 45 min.Discontinuation of the glucagon infusion resulted in a second transient decline in glucose production to 30% below basal despite normal basal plasma glucagon (120 pg⁄ml). Plasma insulin remained at basal levels at each decreas.
Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use among rural/small town and urban youth: a secondary analysis of the monitoring the future data set.

OBJECTIVES This study compared prevalence of substance use among high school seniors in rural and urban areas from 1976 through 1992. METHODS We used data collected for these years from urban (n = 75,916) and rural (n = 51,182) high school seniors. Thirty-day prevalence for alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, cocaine, LSD, and inhalant use, binge drinking, smoking a pack or more of cigarettes a day, and daily alcohol and marijuana use were evaluated. RESULTS Substance use declined from 1976 through 1992. In 1976, urban students had greater prevalence for most substances, but by 1992, rural and urban students were similar, with rural students having higher prevalence for alcohol and cigarette use (particularly excessive use). Trends were similar for both sexes, though rural girls showed a later catch-up to use levels of urban girls. CONCLUSIONS Rural students are currently at risk approximately equal to that of urban students. Other studies have demonstrated the association of substance use with increased morbidity and mortality. Policy alterations and health education programs should address this pattern in the nation's rural areas.
The Analysis of the impact of Accounting Records Keeping on the Performance of the Small Scale Enterprises

This survey empirically investigates the effect of accounting records keeping on Small scale enterprises. In line with the objectives of this study, a descriptive design such as personal interviews and questionnaire were employed as the major techniques for primary data collection. Data collected were analyzed using both the qualitative and quantitative methods. The descriptive statistics used were tables and percentages. Chi-square and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to analyze data through STATA 10 version with the coefficient of determination (R2) 0.8974 which implied that 89.7% of the variation in financial performance could be explained by the level of accounting records keeping. Following the outcome of this study, it is therefore concluded that that there is a strong positive relationship between accounting records keeping and performance of small scale enterprises. Accounting records keeping is essential for decision making which invariably affects performance of small scale enterprises. It is recommended that the owners and managers of the small scale enterprises should embrace proper accounting records keeping practices for effective financial performance in their business.
Usefulness of pro forma accounting information mandated in IPO prospectuses : its association with IPO pricing and subsequent firm performance

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Inventory Control : The Impact of Unknown Demand Distribution

control considered fixed review automati-P 1 P 2 cally. Hence time-varying safety factors were developed, based upon exponential smoothing. Their behaviour is studied in detail, first for normal demand: in stationary situations, they lead to service levels only slightly below the desired values. For gamma distributed demand however, even these newly developed safety factors fall short: in typical cases the stock-out probability can be twice the intended value, the fraction of orders that can not be delivered from stock even may be tripled. Hence, still another type of safety factor was developed, depending on past performance. It achieves service levels closer to the prescribed values - although its practical use may be limited.
Machine Learning Algorithms for Smart Electricity Markets

__Abstract__ The shift towards sustainable electricity systems is one of the grand challenges of the twenty-first century. Decentralized production from renewable sources, electric mobility, and related advances are at odds with traditional power systems where central large-scale generation of electricity follows inelastic consumer demand. Smart Markets and intelligent Information Systems (IS) could alleviate these issues by providing new forms of coordination that leverage real-time consumption information and prices to incentivize behaviors that remain within the grid's operational bounds. However, the best design for these artifacts, and the societal implications of different design choices is largely unclear. This dissertation makes three contributions to the debate. First, we propose and study a design for Brokers, a novel type of IS for autonomous intermediation in retail electricity markets. Second, we propose a probabilistic model for representing customer preferences within intelligent IS, and we study its performance in electricity tariff and other choice tasks. And third, we propose and study Competitive Benchmarking, a novel research method for effective IS artifact design in complex environments like Smart Grids where the social cost of failure is prohibitive. Our results provide guidance on IS design choices for sustainable electricity systems, and they highlight their potential societal positives and negatives.
Distorted Quality Signals : Evidence from School Markets ∗

In markets where quality is imperfectly observed, disclosure policies are often implemented to inform consumers. The consequences of these policies are, however, unclear, specially in markets where quality is malleable. We study educational markets in Chile, where quality is signaled using test scores, and show that quality signals are distorted due to differences in student attendance the day of the test. The heterogeneity in distortions translate into misleading information used by parents when choosing schools. Using a demand model, we estimate how these distorted quality signals change school choices across poor and non-poor households. Although commuting costs and fees paid are unchanged in a counterfactual world with no distortions, chosen quality increases significantly. These results suggest that a low-cost information policy that eliminates distortions could increase welfare.
Axon classes and internodal growth in the ventral spinal root L7 of adult and developing cats.

Internodal length, number of myelin sheath lamellae and axon diameter were estimated in samples of nerve fibres reconstructed from transverse sections (EM and LM) of the L7 ventral spinal root of adult cats, kittens and cat fetuses. The axon calibre spectrum was unimodal in the youngest fetuses, became bimodal at 47 days after mating, i.e. about 2 weeks before birth (63 days after mating) and trimodal at 1 week of postnatal age. Alpha-axons received myelin during the period 40-45 to 50-55 days after mating while gamma-axons became myelinated from 60-63 days after mating to 2-3 weeks of postnatal age. The mean length of the first completely myelinated internodes measured 139 microns and 209 microns in the alpha- and gamma-fibre group respectively. The adult mean values were 1390 microns and 640 microns respectively. The average internodal elongation was x 10 and x 3 in the two fibre groups, whereas the longitudinal growth of the whole ventral root was x 5.4 and x 3.5. A combined linlog function could be fitted to describe the regression between internodal length and axon diameter and was established from birth onwards. The separate alpha- and gamma-fibre samples were best described by linear functions, the alpha internodal length being independent of axon diameter while the gamma internodal length increased linearly with axon diameter. The amount of internodal myelin increased linearly with increasing mantle area of the internodal axon. The mean amount of internodal myelin of alpha-fibres showed two periods of intense growth; one from the start of myelination to 2 months postnatally and the other between 4 and 6 months of age. The mean length of the lamellar spiral forming the myelin sheath showed about the same increase per unit length of axon circumference (about 160:1) in both alpha- and gamma-fibre groups as long as longitudinal internodal growth persisted.
Urinary Erythrocyte-Derived miRNAs: Emerging Role in IgA Nephropathy

Hematuria is one of the basic clinical manifestations of IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Isolated microscopic hematuria or microscopic hematuria combined with proteinuria is risk factor for the long-term prognosis of IgAN. Current evidence of the consequences of glomerular hematuria rests on insights from basic research on the molecular mechanisms of hemoglobin and related reactive oxygen species-induced tubular injury as well as on the clinical evidence of macroscopic hematuria–associated acute kidney injury (AKI) in IgAN. These researches may simply elucidate some effects of macroscopic hematuria but not microscopic hematuria. Recent studies conducted on blood and urinary erythrocytes have made progress. Researches have revealed that mature erythrocytes contain abundant, long, non-coding RNA, miRNA (microRNA) and Y RNA. Among the top 50 expressions of erythrocyte-derived miRNAs, 33 (66%) of them may be the potential urinary biomarkers of IgAN. Moreover, when urinary erythrocytes are compressed while exiting out of an impaired nephron, erythrocyte-derived vesicles (including microvesicles and apoptotic vesicles) may increase. Animal models for hematuria and human biopsy tissues confirm renal parenchymal cells could phagocytose red blood cells and erythrocyte-derived vesicles. These vesicles, which contain miRNAs, may alter the transcriptome of recipient cells and impact the occurrence and development of IgAN.