Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enhancing Effect of β-Lactoglobulin on the Rate of Cyclosporin Absorption

tic The aim of this study was to determine the effects of β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) on the intestinal absorption of cyclosporin A (CsA) in vivo and in vitro . After intraduodenal co-administration of CsA (5 mg/kg) with 150 mg/kg β-LG, T max was significantly lower than that of control rats which were given the same dose of CsA without β-LG. C max and AUC were significantly increased as compared with the control while T 1/2 were not significant. Moreover, a deconvolution method revealed that the rate of CsA absorption was enhanced by β-LG (150 mg/kg) by about 12 times. These results indicate that β-LG significantly enhanced the rate of CsA absorption and the extent of CsA bioavailability in the gut. β-LG did not change the solubility of CsA in vitro, but β-LG increased the apical-to-basolateral permeability clearance of CsA (PS cell ), with pronounced increase in the permeability of unbound CsA ( PS u,cell ), across the Caco-2 monolayers in a concentration-dependent manner in vitro . It was thus considered that β-LG-mediated transport of CsA might be a possible mechanism to enhance the intestinal absorption of CsA in vivo .
Comparison between Silk Ligation and Bipolar Cautery in Tonsillectomy

Background: Tonsillectomy is a commonly performed surgical procedure. There are several operative methods but the superiority of one over the other has not been clearly demonstrated. The aim of this study was to compare the morbidity associated with tonsillectomy using two different techniques for hemostasis – silk ligation versus diathermy. Material and methods: This was an experimental study conducted at ENT Department of Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar and Gomal Medical College D.I. Khan, from January 2003 to December 2004. Results of the two groups i.e. tonsillectomy using silk ligation or diathermy for hemostasis were studied. Results: Tonsillectomy of 180 patients was performed; 130 (72.22%) male and 50 (27.77%) female. Bipolar diathermy was used in 60 cases to achieve hemostasis while silk ligation in 120. The mean operation time was 15 minutes with bipolar diathermy as compared to 30 minutes with silk ligation. Analgesia requirement in first 24 hours was equal in both groups. Primary hemorrhage was noticed in 4 (6.66%) cases when hemostasis was achieved using bipolar diathermy and in 8 (6.66%) cases when silk was used. Secondary hemorrhage was noticed in 8 (13.33%) cases with bipolar diathermy as compared to only 5 (4.16%) when silk ligation was done. Conclusion: Less operative time is taken by bipolar diathermy method as compared to the tonsillectomy using silk ligation for hemostasis. Chances of primary hemorrhage are equal but secondary hemorrhage is significantly less with silk ligation.
Auditor Reputation and Auditor Independence: Evidence from an Emerging Market

The paper examines the impact of auditor reputation (i.e. size of audit firm) on auditor independence. Questionnaires and interview survey were used to seek the perceptions of senior managers of Malaysian audit firms, banks and public listed companies. Consistent with the documented evidence, the Big Four firms were perceived to be superior compared to the non-Big Four firms in all aspects relating to independence from their clients. Respondents indicated that Big Four auditors are better able to resist management pressure in conflict situations, are more effective at detecting activities that will affect clients' company continuity, are more risk averse and thus more disinclined to be associated with public scandals and/or audit failures, are more risk averse with regard to litigation arising from fraud/misstatement/irregularities and are more independent than non-Big Four auditors. It may be that the Big Four auditors are more exposed and subject to close scrutiny by the public and regulators, especially when negative behaviour is perceived. The findings suggest that the Big Four auditors are perceived to be more independently than the non-Big Four auditors.
Expression of lumbosacral HOX genes, crucial in kidney organogenesis, is systematically deregulated in clear cell kidney cancers

Homeobox-containing genes are involved in different stages of kidney organogenesis, from the early events in intermediate mesoderm to terminal differentiation of glomerular and tubular epithelia. The HOX genes show a unique genomic network organization and regulate normal development. The targeted disruption of paralogous group 11 HOX genes (HOX A11, HOX C11 and HOX D11) results in a complete loss of metanephric kidney induction. Despite a large amount of data are related to the early events in the kidney development, not much is known about HOX genes in advanced kidney organogenesis and carcinogenesis. Here, we compare the expression of the whole HOX gene network in late-stage human foetal kidney development with the same patterns detected in 25 pairs of normal clear cell renal carcinomas (RCCs) and 15 isolated RCC biopsy samples. In the majority of RCCs tested, HOX C11 is upregulated, whereas HOX D11, after an early involvement becomes active again at the 23rd week of the foetal kidney development, is always expressed in normal adult kidneys and is deregulated, together with HOX A11 and lumbosacral locus D HOX genes. Thus, through its function of regulating phenotype cell identity, the HOX network plays an important role in kidney carcinogenesis. Lumbosacral HOX genes are involved in the molecular alterations associated with clear cell kidney cancers and represent, through their deregulation, a molecular mark of tubular epithelial dedifferentiation occurring along tumour evolution, with the restoration of genetic programs associated with kidney organogenesis. The deregulation of lumbosacral HOX genes in RCCs supports (i) the consideration of the HOX gene transcriptome as the potential prognostic tool in kidney carcinogenesis and (ii) the possibility to foresee clinical trials with the purpose of targeting these genes to achieve a therapeutic effect in RCC patients.
Physical Activity at Work Contributes Little to Patient Care Workers' Weekly Totals

Objective: To determine the number of minutes of moderate and vigorous physical activity at work in comparison to weekly total minutes in a pilot study of 50 hospital patient care workers. Methods: Workers wore accelerometers during work and nonwork hours for 7 days, and completed surveys at the end of the seventh day. Results: Although the participants reported on average 206 minutes of moderate activity at work, the accelerometers recorded on average 30 minutes of moderate activity at work. For the 7 days the accelerometers measured a total of 165 minutes of moderate activity. Self-reported fatigue and functional limitations were negatively correlated albeit weakly with measured minutes of vigorous activity outside of work. Conclusions: Physical activity at work on patient care units contributes a small fraction to these workers' weekly totals, and in turn meeting guidelines.
Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging and manual lameness scoring as a means for lameness detection in cattle

Accepted: 14/06/2014 Abstract Lameness is a serious issue in the dairy industry, both economically and from an animal welfare perspective. The inciden ce of lameness in UK herds has been estimated to be around 20-25%. The s tudy looked at the use of Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging (DITI) and manu al lameness scoring as a means for lameness detection in cattle . This was carried out at dairy unit in Northamptonshire in the United Kingdom. 150 cattle were used in the study and foot temperatures were recorded using a handheld Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) thermal imaging camera. All subjects were lameness scored directly after images were taken, a s the animals exited the milking parlour. Data collections were repeated twi ce weekly for the following 3 weeks. The Kruskal-Wallis test found no significant difference between the mean values on temperatures collected f or each lameness score in weeks 1-3 ( p=0.823) and weeks 4-6 ( p=0.935). Chi-Squared tests for association found an association between individual foot temperatures for weeks 1-3 (X= 8, df= 82.25, p<0.001), and 4-6 (X =8, df=133.3, p<0.001) and that there was a high level of lameness in hind limbs (n=139) when using a threshold of 27 C for disease. Results indicated that such a high level of lameness recorded using thermal imaging te chniques and not by the method of mobility scoring meant that lameness scor ing may be subjective when compared to objective techniques. Therefore th e prospect of using DITI as a diagnostic tool for lameness should be co nsidered.
Understanding virulence of Heterobasidion annosum s.l., a root rot pathogen of conifers

Heterobasidion annosum sensu lato (s.l.) species are destructive pathogens causing root and butt rot in conifers. The species complex consists of five species: H. annosum sensu stricto (s.s.), H. abietinum, H. parviporum, H. irregulare and H. occidentale. The aim of this thesis was to improve the understanding of fungal virulence in this species complex. The comparison of H. irregulare and H. occidentale transcriptomes revealed differences in the consistently significant up-regulated genes (CUGs) in Norway spruce (Picea abies) bark. It appears that more CUGs involved in detoxification and in the production of secondary metabolites are activated in H. irregulare. By contrast, H. occidentale emphasizes carbohydrate degradation. This enrichment of CUGs in particular gene ontology terms may be driven by their host preferences and by their evolutionary history. In H. irregulare, an endo-rhamnogalacturonase gene (HIRHG) from a virulence QTL was up-regulated during infection and the protein was mainly produced during growth on complex carbon sources. Although the HIRHG gene had been lost in most of the biotrophic and hemibiotrophic plant pathogens investigated, it was common in the necrotrophic pathogens and saprotrophs. Expression of HIRHG in Magnaporthe oryzae increased its capacity to grow on pectin, but did not significantly affect its virulence in our experimental set up. In parallel, the evolution of RNA interference (RNAi) was investigated to lay a foundation for the establishment of reverse genetics study tools. Dicer and argonaute are central to the functioning of the RNAi machinery required for gene silencing applications. The evolution of argonaute- and dicer-encoding genes in 43 fungal genomes indicated an ancient duplication of dicer and argonaute genes concurrent with the early diversification of the Basidiomycota, followed by additional species-specific duplications and losses of a more recent origin. The quelling pathway possibly exists in most Basidiomycota; however, to date, no evidence for the meiotic silencing (MSUD) pathway has been found. Given that both argonaute and dicer are present, it should be possible to apply RNAi to study virulence genes in H. annosum s.l.
Age effects on the acquisition of nominal and verbal inflections in an instructed setting

This study examines evidence for the hypothesis (e.g., Munoz, 2006) that an early starting age is not necessarily more beneficial to the successful learning of L2 inflectional morphology in strictly formal instructional settings. The present author investigated the quantitative and qualitative differences in the production and reception of 5 selected inflectional morphemes in English written performance and competence tasks by 100 early classroom learners and 100 late classroom learners of the same age. While an earlier age of first exposure and a longer instructional period was not associated with higher accuracy scores, the findings suggest distinct patterns in the productive and receptive knowledge abilities of inflectional morphology; the late classroom learners’ superiority seems to be rooted in their greater reliance upon memory-based item-by-item associative learning, as they are significantly stronger on tasks that might cause semantic difficulties, whereas the early classroom learners are marginally better on pattern-based processes for certain morphemes. This finding possibly supports Ullman’s (2005) proposal that, as procedural memory declines with age, older starters have difficulty in discovering regularities in the input and thus over-rely on the declarative memory system in L2 learning.
Coffee and serum cholesterol.

The study lasted nine weeks, being performed in 17 healthy volunteers divided into two groups. Group 1 started with coffee and changed to no coffee after four weeks. Group 2 followed the same procedure in inverted order. In the last week the participants returned to their habitual intake of coffee. Weekly serum samples were drawn and coffee consumption registered. The participants committed themselves to drink at least six cups of coffee daily during the coffee period and otherwise make no changes in their diet. Tea was allowed in the no coffee periods. The coffee consumed was predominantly black, boiled coffee. There were no drop outs. Testing was done according to the preset protocol with paired t test on the difference ("coffee response"), within each participant, between the mean of the two last lipid determinations in the coffee period and the mean of the corresponding two determinations in the no coffee period. Cholesterol was measured blindly and directly by the enzymatic oxidase method. High density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and triglycerides were assayed as described. ' In group 1 the serum cholesterol remained at the same concentration during the first four week coffee period. In the no coffee period the mean cholesterol concentration decreased from 5-33 to 4-93 mmol/l (206 to 190 mg/100 ml). In group 2 cholesterol decreased from 5-78 to 5-52 mmol/l (223 to 213 mg/100 ml) in the no coffee period and increased thereafter to 6-08 mmol/l (235 mg/100 ml) in the coffee period. The last week both groups moved toward baseline. The figure shows the weekly means of the difference from the subject's baseline in the two groups. The individual coffee response varied from 1-47 to -0-67 mmol/l (57 and 26 mg/100 ml) giving a mean of 0 45 (SD 0-48) mmol/l (17 (SD 19) mg/100 ml) (p=0-0012), or 8-7% of the overall mean cholesterol concentration. Only two had a negative response.
Can Relative Performance Compensation Explain Analysts' Forecasts of Earnings?

This paper derives and tests the implications of relative performance incentives for the forecasts of financial analysts. If, in addition to compensation for absolute forecast accuracy, analysts are compensated on the basis of how their forecasts compare with those of other analysts, then earlier forecasts affect later announcements. The theoretical predictions regarding the direction of bias are tested using data on individual analysts’ forecasts of earnings per share (EPS). We find very strong evidence that the last analyst to report a forecast strategically selects a contrarian forecast that overshoots the consensus (mean) forecast in the direction of his private information. In particular, we provide evidence that the bias in the last analyst’s forecast is chosen strategically, and is not due to the analyst myopically ignoring information in the forecasts of others. We also find evidence that investors do not unravel biases in the forecasts of firms followed by fewer analysts.
User Acceptance of Hedonic Information Systems

This paper studies the differences in user acceptance models for productivity-oriented (or utilitarian) and pleasure-oriented (or hedonic) information systems. Hedonic information systems aim to provide self-fulfilling rather than instrumental value to the user, are strongly connected to home and leisure activities, focus on the fun-aspect of using information systems, and encourage prolonged rather than productive use. The paper reports a cross-sectional survey on the usage intentions for one hedonic information system. Analysis of this sample supports the hypotheses that perceived enjoyment and perceived ease of use are stronger determinants of intentions to use than perceived usefulness. The paper concludes that the hedonic nature of an information system is an important boundary condition to the validity of the technology acceptance model. Specifically, perceived usefulness loses its dominant predictive value in favor of ease of use and enjoyment.
Opportunity Recognition Framework: Exploring the Technology Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship plays an important role in fostering economic growth, job creation and innovation to a nation. Therefore, governments and researchers alike have concentrated their effort in pursue of increasing entrepreneurial activities within the community. Despite such efforts, entrepreneurship research is still evolving at its infancy stage. For entrepreneurship to happen, opportunity recognition must first happen. In an effort to take better sense of the factors shaping the entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, this study aims to examine the potential effect of entrepreneurial alertness, prior knowledge and social network on opportunity recognition and ultimately reaping the rewards of superior business performance. The goal of this study is to propose a model of the opportunity recognition model. Careful examination of past literature and theories produced several research hypotheses.
Beamforming for Space-Time Coded IEEE 802.11n System with Known Fading Correlations

In this paper, we design a linear beamformer based only on the channel statistical information for space-time coded OFDM system under multi-path fading channels by considering both the transmitter and receiver antenna correlation. We show that the optimal beamformer is determined by transmitter correlation matrix only. Furthermore, the optimal beamformer is found to be the same for all OFDM subcarriers, which enables time domain implementation to reduce the transmitter complexity. Simulation results show performance improvement over the current IEEE 802.11n proposal where an orthogonal matrix is used.
The Bright Side of Fire Sales

Firms that buy assets in fire sales earn excess returns that are 2 percentage points higher than in regular acquisitions. The mechanism behind this result is the sellers’ reduced bargaining power. We find no difference in real effects or in the combined returns for buyers and sellers between fire sales and regular acquisitions, suggesting that the quality of the match is similar in both types of transactions. The externalities of fire sales for other stakeholders are limited. These results indicate that the welfare losses associated with fire sales are smaller than previously thought. Received December 17, 2015; editorial decision November 20, 2018 by Editor Itay Goldstein.
Foreign Currency Exposure and Hedging: Evidence from Foreign Acquisitions

Previous research on the impact of currency risk on stock returns has failed to find a significant role for foreign exchange rates. This paper addresses several explanations of this finding with a unique dataset of U.S. firms that acquire targets in other countries. The dataset allows estimation of the impact of exchange rates using firm-specific bilateral exchange rates and a time period over which underlying exposure is known to significantly change. We also relate the change in exposure from before to after the acquisition to various characteristics of the acquirer, such as its presence in the target country prior to the deal and its hedging activities, and characteristics of the target, such as the exposure of the target prior to the deal. The results suggest that identifying a relevant exchange rate can be an important consideration in studying the impact of exchange rate risk on stock returns, but identifying financial hedging information is not. Further, foreign targets often provide operational hedging benefits to the U.S. acquirers, as exposure estimates are significantly affected by the acquisition.
Oregano essential oil as food additive for piglets: antimicrobial and antioxidant potential

ABSTRACT - This study aimed to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of oregano essential oil on theperformance and on the occurrence of diarrhea in weanling pigs, as well as its antioxidant and antimicrobial activity evaluatedin vitro. It was compared four treatments (diets): negative control; positive control, 0.5% ZnO (preventive diarrhea) +0.05% zinc acitracin (growth promoter); or 0.003% of essential oil of oregano, combined or not with preventive of diarrhea.Weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion were evaluated from 27 (weaning) to 62 days of age of the animals, and theoccurrence of diarrhea was evaluated on the first 14 days of the experiment. The positive control diet and the oregano oil+ zinc oxide diet were the ones that provided the best zootechnical performance. The number of piglets with diarrhea, aswell as the duration of diarrhea, were lower in animals fed positive control and oregano oil + zinc oxide diets. Oregano oilhad in vitro bacteriostatic action on all the tested microorganisms and bactericidal action against four bacteria. The in vitroantioxidant activity of oregano oil was 98.88% through linoleic acid/β-carotene system methodology, and 174.17 mg/mLby the DPPH method, expressed as CE
Spinoffs and Clustering

Geographic clustering of innovative industries is associated with the entry and success of spinoff firms. We develop a model to explain the multiple empirical patterns regarding cluster growth and spinoff formation and performance, without relying on agglomeration externalities. Clustering naturally follows from spinoffs locating near their parents. In our model, firms grow and spinoffs form through the discovery of new submarkets based on innovation. Rapid and successful innovation creates more opportunities for spinoff entry and drives a region's growth. Our model provides baseline estimates of levels of agglomeration that can be attributed to this process of innovation and spinoff formation.
Structural Characterization of Cuta- and Tusavirus: Insight into Protoparvoviruses Capsid Morphology

Several members of the Protoparvovirus genus, capable of infecting humans, have been recently discovered, including cutavirus (CuV) and tusavirus (TuV). To begin the characterization of these viruses, we have used cryo-electron microscopy and image reconstruction to determine their capsid structures to ~2.9 Å resolution, and glycan array and cell-based assays to identify glycans utilized for cellular entry. Structural comparisons show that the CuV and TuV capsids share common features with other parvoviruses, including an eight-stranded anti-parallel β-barrel, depressions at the icosahedral 2-fold and surrounding the 5-fold axes, and a channel at the 5-fold axes. However, the viruses exhibit significant topological differences in their viral protein surface loops. These result in three separated 3-fold protrusions, similar to the bufaviruses also infecting humans, suggesting a host-driven structure evolution. The surface loops contain residues involved in receptor binding, cellular trafficking, and antigenic reactivity in other parvoviruses. In addition, terminal sialic acid was identified as the glycan potentially utilized by both CuV and TuV for cellular entry, with TuV showing additional recognition of poly-sialic acid and sialylated Lewis X (sLeXLeXLeX) motifs reported to be upregulated in neurotropic and cancer cells, respectively. These structures provide a platform for annotating the cellular interactions of these human pathogens.