Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Placental perfusion and permeability: simultaneous assessment with dual-echo contrast-enhanced MR imaging in mice.

PURPOSE To assess placental perfusion and permeability in mice with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was conducted according to French law and National Institutes of Health recommendations for animal care. Twenty-two pregnant BALB/c mice were examined at 1.5 T with a single-section dual-echo fast spoiled gradient-echo sequence. Two injection protocols were used: monophasic injection (double the clinical dose of contrast agent) and biphasic injection (quadruple the clinical dose). Signal intensities (SIs) were measured in the maternal left ventricle, placenta, and fetus (n = 16). At these high gadolinium doses, a T2* effect correction was used. SIs were converted to gadolinium concentrations and were analyzed by using a three-compartment model. Quantitative microcirculation parameters were calculated. Results with the monophasic and biphasic protocols were compared, and final arterial concentrations determined with MR imaging were compared with those determined with atomic emission spectrophotometry by using the unpaired Student t test. RESULTS Perfusion and permeability parameters for monophasic and biphasic injections were similar: Mean placental blood flow was 180 mL/min/100 g, mean permeability surface coefficient from maternal placental to fetal placental compartment was 10.3 x 10(-4) sec(-1) +/- 6.81 (standard deviation), mean permeability surface coefficient from fetal placental to maternal placental compartment was 4.65 x 10(-4) sec(-1) +/- 4.37, and mean fractional volume of the maternal vascular placental compartment was 36.5% +/- 0.9. Placental (146 vs 105 micromol/L, P < .004) and fetal (33.3 vs 19.1 micromol/L, P < .001) gadolinium concentrations were higher with the biphasic than with the monophasic protocol. Arterial gadolinium concentrations at MR imaging did not differ significantly from those at spectrophotometry for the monophasic (P = .254) or biphasic (P = .776) injection protocol. CONCLUSION Placental perfusion and permeability can be measured in vivo by using high gadolinium doses and a dual-echo MR imaging sequence.
Forbearance Expectations and the Subordinated Debt Signal of Bank Insolvency

It has been proposed that bank subordinated debt yields be used as a signaling device to reflect a bank’s condition. Of particular interest to those charged with the bank safety net is a reduction in the recognition lag of bank distress in order to promote self-correction by the bank or for the regulator to prevent costly forbearance of an insolvent bank. Using the Black and Cox contingent claims model for subordinated debt valuation, we relate the signaling device, the bank’s subordinated debt yield, to the investors’ view of the bank’s solvency. The analytical solution to the model reveals that if investor’s forbearance expectations were to be under the maximum of 270 days allowed under Prompt Corrective Action standards, subordinated debt yield spreads will generally anticipate the bank’s insolvency. If investors hold longer forbearance expectations subordinated debt yield spreads fail to give an early warning of bank insolvency. Based on empirical estimates from bank subordinated debt observations over the latter half of the l990s, investor’s expected forbearance exceeded 270 days so that subordinated debt yields did not likely provide early insolvency recognition. Our conclusion is that lengthy forbearance expectations prevail, despite a legislative mandate to the contrary, that prevents the subordinated debt signal from being effective and useful as a basis for insolvency detection or federal deposit insurance pricing.
Effects of Two Types of Service Quality on Brand Equity in China: The Moderating Roles of Satisfaction, Brand Associations, and Brand Loyalty

In mature industries characterized by the differences in environmental elements, service quality often distinguishes an organization from its rivals. Two types of service quality, such as physical and perceived ser�� vice quality, may have different approaches to enhance brand equity. The authors developed a model that addresses the interrelationships between two types of service quality and brand equity and examined the moderating effects of satisfaction, brand associations, and brand loyalty. Based on survey data collected from department store customers in two major cities of China, the findings indicate that when the moderating effects are considered, the effect of physical service quality on brand equity is much stronger than the effect of perceived service quality.
Vowel and Consonant Recognition with the Aid of a Multichannel Cochlear Implant

In this report we review the vowel and consonant recognition ability of patients who use a multichannel cochlear implant and who achieve relatively good word identification scores. The results suggest that vowel recognition is accomplished by good resolution of the frequency of the first formant (F1) combined with poor resolution of the frequency of the second formant (F2). The results also suggest that consonant recognition is accomplished (1) by using information from the amplitude envelope, including periodicity/aperiodicity, as cues to manner and voicing, (2) by using F1 as an aid to the identification of manner and voicing, and (3) by using information from cochlear place of stimulation to provide a very crude indication of the shape of the frequency spectrum above 1kHz.
Oral cavity and oropharyngeal tumors in human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients: acute response to radiation therapy.

BACKGROUND The survival of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has improved considerably with modern medical management. However, there remains surprisingly little information on treating head and neck neoplasms in HIV-positive patients. OBJECTIVE To report our recent experience treating oral cavity and oropharyngeal tumors in HIV-positive patients. DESIGN AND PATIENTS Retrospective analysis of a cohort of 8 HIV-positive patients with Kaposi sarcoma (KS), lymphoma, or squamous carcinoma of the oral cavity or oropharynx who were consecutively treated during a single year with radiation therapy at a tertiary care referral center. Length of follow-up was at least 2 years (mean, 2.5 years). RESULTS All patients had partial and complete responses to treatment lasting until the last follow-up. However, we found that treatment was considerably better tolerated by patients with non-KS tumors, with fewer acute reactions and significantly less weight loss, despite larger treatment volumes and higher radiation doses, compared with patients with KS. Patients with non-KS tumors received a mean radiation dose of 62.6 Gy to 2636 cm3, yet lost only a mean of 0.1 kg in weight, whereas patients with KS were treated with a mean radiation dose of 19 Gy to a mean volume of 568 cm3, but lost a mean of 5.8 kg during treatment (P = .005) and on average sustained an additional grade of severity on a standard scale of mucosal reaction (P = .01). CONCLUSIONS Oral cavity and oropharyngeal tumors in HIV-positive patients respond to radiation therapy, but there is a marked difference in the degree of acute reactions to treatment between patients with and without KS. Infection with HIV is not a contraindication when aggressive radiation therapy is needed in select patients.
Increased GABAergic function in mouse models of Huntington's disease: Reversal by BDNF

Huntington's disease (HD) is characterized by loss of striatal γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic medium‐sized spiny projection neurons (MSSNs), whereas some classes of striatal interneurons are relatively spared. Striatal interneurons provide most of the inhibitory synaptic input to MSSNs and use GABA as their neurotransmitter. We reported previously alterations in glutamatergic synaptic activity in the R6/2 and R6/1 mouse models of HD. In the present study, we used whole‐cell voltage clamp recordings to examine GABAergic synaptic currents in MSSNs from striatal slices in these two mouse models compared to those in age‐matched control littermates. The frequency of spontaneous GABAergic synaptic currents was increased significantly in MSSNs from R6/2 transgenics starting around 5–7 weeks (when the overt behavioral phenotype begins) and continuing in 9–14‐week‐old mice. A similar increase was observed in 12–15‐month‐old R6/1 transgenics. Bath application of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor, which is downregulated in HD, significantly reduced the frequency of spontaneous GABAergic synaptic currents in MSSNs from R6/2 but not control mice at 9–14 weeks. Increased GABA current densities also occurred in acutely isolated MSSNs from R6/2 animals. Immunofluorescence demonstrated increased expression of the ubiquitous α1 subunit of GABAA receptors in MSSNs from R6/2 animals. These results indicate that increases in spontaneous GABAergic synaptic currents and postsynaptic receptor function occur in parallel to progressive decreases in glutamatergic inputs to MSSNs. In conjunction, both changes will severely alter striatal outputs to target areas involved in the control of movement. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A controlled study of reverse transcriptase in serum and CSF of HIV-negative patients with ALS

Reverse transcriptase has been detected in the serum of HIV-negative patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). An ALS-like disorder in HIV-positive patients can remit with antiretroviral therapy. Using the product enhanced assay technique, we measured reverse transcriptase activity in the serum and CSF of 23 HIV-negative patients with ALS and 21 neurologic disease controls. Results for CSF were not significant, whereas reverse transcriptase was detected in 56% of ALS sera vs 19% of controls.
Behavioral Drivers of Routing Decisions: Evidence from Restaurant Table Assignment

We first theoretically identify the factors that may impact individuals’ routing decisions before empirically examining a large operational dataset in a casual restaurant setting. Analytical models have identified various routing algorithms for service operations management. Although each model may offer advantages over others, they all make a key assumption decision makers will actually follow the algorithms, if implemented. However, in many settings routing is not done by a computer that is programmed, but instead by a human. People make routing decisions at their own discretion which may hurt or help system performance. We analyze granular transaction data to examine how hosts revise a given routing rule when seating customers. After that, we empirically analyze the effect of the dispersion of table assignments on restaurant performance, and estimate the counter-factual sales impact of adopting
Weather's Effect on the Sales of a Department Store

ARECENT study1 was made of the effect of daily weather on the daily total store sales and the daily sales of three departments of Younker Bros. , Inc., Des Moines, Iowa. The period covered in the study was the seven weeks before Easter, I940-48 inclusive. In this article only the relationship between the weather and the total sales of the store will be discussed. Many studies have been made of the effects of weather on various kinds of business activity in recent years. Studies have been made of weather's effect on gas consumption, electrical consumption, agricultural production, electrical power failures, etc. But little has been done on the subject of weather's effects on the retail sale of merchandise. Weather affects gas consumption mainly through the effect of temperature on people. In cities in which gas is used for household heating the relation between temperature and gas consumption is rather obvious. The relation between gas consumption and humidity and wind velocity is not so apparent but there probably is one. With respect to electrical consumption, cloudiness as well as other weather elements affect consumption. When the sky is overcast and the clouds are thick people will turn on their lights. Agricultural production is affected by many weather elements, but the time and amount of precipitation are probably the most important to most crops.
Forensic Accounting Knowledge and Skills on Task Performance Fraud Risk Assessment: Nigerian Public Sector Experience

The Public company accounting oversight board (PCAOB) standing advisory group (2008) highlights several challenges that relate to fraud and therefore tasks accounting researchers to determine whether forensic accountants are more capable than auditors in fraud detection, prevention and response. This paper discusses forensic accountant knowledge and skills and auditor knowledge and skills on task performance fraud risk assessment in the Nigerian public sector. It also draws the attention of the users of public sector accountants and auditors such as the regulatory and enforcement agencies, courts and ministries, departments and agencies. The objective of the study is to investigate the fraud risk assessment task performance in the office of the Auditor general for the Federation and Accountant general of the Federation through the effective use of knowledge and skills (forensic accountant versus auditor), which has the potential to usher in the best global practices in fighting fraud in the Nigerian public sector.
No detectable NO synthesis from l‐arginine or N
G‐hydroxy‐l‐arginine in fMLP‐stimulated human blood neutrophils despite production of nitrite, nitrate, and citrulline from N
G‐hydroxy‐l‐arginine

Nitric oxide (NO) is a well‐documented effector molecule in rodent phagocytes but its synthesis in human neutrophils has been controversial. In this study, NO production in human neutrophils activated by chemotactic peptide N‐formyl‐methionyl‐leucyl‐phenylalanine (fMLP) was measured in the presence of l‐arginine (l‐Arg) and N G‐hydroxy‐l‐arginine (OH‐l‐Arg), the precursor and intermediate amino acids in NO synthesis, respectively. Incubation of fMLP‐activated neutrophils with OH‐l‐Arg resulted in a production of nitrite, nitrate, and citrulline that was greater than with unstimulated neutrophils but was not inhibited by the NOS inhibitors l‐NMMA and l‐NIO or the cytochrome P 450 inhibitor troleandomycin and was not seen when OH‐l‐Arg was replaced with l‐Arg. This nitrite, nitrate, and citrulline production was not associated with any detectable NO synthesis because no increases in cyclic GMP were observed in the presence of phosphodiesterase inhibitors and in the presence or absence of superoxide dismutase. Moreover, no increases in the formation of the reaction product of NO with superoxide, peroxynitrite, were observed on addition of either OH‐l‐Arg or l‐Arg to activated neutrophils, as assessed either by dihydrorhodamine oxidation or protein nitration. This suggests that, in spite of the production of nitrite, nitrate, and citrulline, commonly used indicators of NO formation, normal human blood neutrophils, are not producing detectable amounts of either NO or peroxynitrite when stimulated with fMLP in the presence of OH‐l‐Arg. J. Leukoc. Biol. 66: 127–134; 1999.
The nutritional and clinical significance of lipid rafts

Purpose of reviewLipid rafts are potentially modifiable by diet, particularly (but not exclusively) by dietary fatty acids. This review examines the potential for dietary modification of raft structure and function in the immune system, brain and retinal tissue, the gut, and in cancer cells. Recent findingsIn-vitro and ex-vivo studies suggest that dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) may exert immunosuppressive and anticancer effects through changes in lipid raft organization. In addition, gangliosides and cholesterol may modulate lipid raft organization in a number of tissues, and recent work has highlighted sphingolipids in membrane microdomains as potential targets for inhibition of tumor growth. The roles of fatty acids and gangliosides, especially in relation to lipid rafts, in cognitive development, age-related cognitive decline, psychiatric disorders, and Alzheimer's disease are poorly understood and require further investigation. The roles of lipid rafts in cancer, in microbial pathogenesis, and in insulin resistance are starting to emerge, and indicate compelling evidence for the growing importance of membrane microdomains in health and disease. SummaryIn-vitro and animal studies show that n-3 PUFAs, cholesterol, and gangliosides modulate the structure and composition of lipid rafts, potentially influencing a wide range of biological processes, including immune function, neuronal signaling, cancer cell growth, entry of pathogens through the gut barrier, and insulin resistance in metabolic disorders. The physiological, clinical, and nutritional relevance of these observations remains to be determined.
“Logalization”: local–global processes and the Shiling leather industrial district in Guangzhou, China

Much of the research on industrialization in less developed countries like China focus on top-down globalization processes associated with foreign direct investment from transnational corporations. This paper attempts to augment that literature with greater attention for bottom-up processes, which are also important in China. This case study of the Shiling leather industrial district was chosen because of the importance of bottom-up initiated local processes that began independently of global forces, yet evolved to become tied into larger processes of globalization: a process we term “logalization”. Our conceptual framework is illustrated using our general model of how this kind of industrial district links into the world market; it includes the importance of “regional structure” comprising not just the industrial district itself but also wholesale markets as well as trade fairs that connect industrial production into the global economy. We examine how the Shiling industrial district was initiated by local forces, and how this district and the other components of “regional structure” have evolved and acted as a bridge between the local and the global; the role of the local and provincial governments as part of “logalization” processes; and how the low-skill, low-quality, high-volume industrial production in Shiling, albeit among small companies, does not yet fit into a neo-Marshallian industrial district model.
Competitive Effects of Merger Remedies in Europe’s High-Tech Industry

Using an event study methodology, this paper assesses the competitive effects of remedies implemented by the European Commission in 11 horizontal mergers in the ICT industry between 1990 and 2010. The estimates of merger announcement effects for both merging parties and competitors have predominantly insignificant residuals, suggesting that collusion and anti-competitive effects are not implied by the market reactions to merger announcements. Remedies, both behavioural and structural, appear to be largely ineffective in negating the competition concerns of the Commission, even if properly applied to anti-competitive mergers. Moreover, behavioural remedies appear to transfer rents from merging parties to competitors. These findings suggest that static economic models are ineffective in analysing dynamic markets, possibly as a result of inadequate market definitions.
Strategy as a field of study: Why search for a new paradigm?

The fundamental structural transitions in a wide variety of industries brought about by major catalysts such as deregulation, global competition, technological discontinuities, and changing customer expectations are imposing new strains on managers around the world. Old recipes do not work anymore. Managers, concerned with restoring competitiveness of their firms, are abandoning traditional approaches to strategy; they are searching for new approaches that give guidance in a turbulent environment. Many academics, confronted with the same reality, are reexamining the relevance of the concepts and tools of the strategy field. In the absence of a consistent and useful strategy paradigm that they can use, managers appear to have embraced attention to ‘implementation’ as their saviour, more or less abandoning strategy as either unimportant or uninteresting. Academics continue to search for new approaches. This special issue of the Strategic Management Journal presents creative and new thinking dealing with substantive issues and methodologies that can lead to the evolution of a new paradigm(s).
Examining Task Oriented and Relations Oriented Team Diversity–An Analytic Review of the Banking Industry

In today’s competitive business environment, organizations are compelled to stay on their toes at every second of their time to satisfy customers, solve economical and political problems, be cost efficient and innovative and establish a market value and name for itself. Tackling all these problems and hurdles and yet be innovative and creative cannot be managed by individuals alone. Hence, most organizations today have made use of teams, a group of people who work together towards a shared organizational goal. In teams, people from various backgrounds and expertise come together to give their opinion about a certain project so that all perspectives are kept in mind and collaborated before any decision is made. (O'Reilly et al., 1989). Since teams in organizations are made up of a diverse group of people hence there is always a possibility that they will not be able to work together. Banking Industry in Pakistan over the years has increased their focus on team work due to its challenging nature and ever changing demand for innovativeness and competitiveness. This study attempts to investigate the effects of task oriented and relation oriented diversity on team performance in the banking industry. Task oriented diversity involved factors like education, function and organizational tenure while Relation oriented diversity involved factors such as age, gender and ethnicity. The impact on team performance has been measured in terms of team members’ opinion, team leader/DOH opinion and their satisfaction levels. The study has explored how task oriented and relation oriented diversity influences the team performance with respect to three contextual factors namely: Occupational Demography (majority dominated vs balanced), Industry Setting (service industry in particular banking industry) and Team Tenure (short term vs long term). The research findings revealed that the effects of relations –oriented and task oriented diversity on performance was significantly different with respect to contextual moderators and they offer new possibilities for enhancing team diversity outcomes. Therefore based on the study conclusions it is recommended that organizational practices especially HR policies and practices should consider the categorization and elaboration effects of task and relations oriented diversity in service industry. Similarly team tenure is also an important contextual moderator and diversity dynamics should be carefully understood for effective team outcomes especially in long term teams. Other industry level characteristics that have been ignored in earlier team diversity research should be examined since they offer new possibilities for enhancing team diversity outcomes.
Demographic Diversity in the Board and Corporate Tax Planning in American Firms

This study examines the effect of demographic gender diversity on corporate tax planning. Using a sample of 300 firms (S&P 500) for the 1996-2009 periods, results indicate that gender diversity on the board is not significant and doesn’t have an effect on tax planning. Board independence enhances tax practice. ROA is significant and associated with tax planning. Board size and firm size do not exhibit significant relations. We contribute to the literature of gender by proposing a new tax framework. We propose new evidence for the paradigm of tax governance.