Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The identity of metarhodopsin III

A fast-scanning dichroic microspectrophotometer was used to trace products of rhodopsin photolysis (metarhodopsins I/II/III and later) in structurally intact amphibian rod outer segments (ROSs) and metabolically active rods. The instrument allows the recording of absorbance spectra with a time resolution better than 1 s, and to discriminate between products with similar absorbance spectra that differ with respect to the orientation of their chromophore in the photoreceptor membrane. We demonstrate that metarhodopsin III is in a pH-reversible equilibrium with metarhodopsin II and that the metarhodopsin III chromophore is orientated with respect to the membrane plane even more strictly than the 11-cis retinal in “dark” rhodopsin. This indicates that all-trans retinal in metarhodopsin III is still attached to its native binding site on opsin. The kinetic scheme of the decay of metarhodopsins is presented in which metarhodopsin III lies in a shunt pathway from metarhodopsin II to retinal. Formation of metarhodopsin III was detected at bleaches as low as ≈ 3%, contrary to previous reports that it is not formed at below 10% bleaches. Another product that is spectrally similar to metarhodopsin III, termed P440, appears at later stages of photolysis as the result of the decay of metarhodopsin II and metarhodopsin III. The chromophoric group in P440 is orientated preferentially across the disk membrane. The final product(s) in isolated ROS, where the reduction of retinal to retinol is blocked, consists of a mixture of a free retinal and retinal possibly attached to different binding sites in the membrane. In metabolically active rods the later products are quickly converted to retinol. We conclude that metarhodopsin III represents a specific conformational state of metarhodopsin where the chromophoric binding site is still occupied by all-trans retinal. Hence, the formation and decay of metarhodopsin III may be limiting for the rate of rhodopsin regeneration and photoreceptor dark adaptation.
Towards the integrative supply chain model

Although empirical studies show that supply chain integration is associated with high levels of business and operational performance, some authors argue that there is no need to pursue total end-to-end supply chain integration and different or relationship-by-relationship approaches are needed. This paper introduces the first step in the development of the business process model, which might facilitate the building of closer relationships among businesses and therefore endorse supply chain integration. The aim of this paper is to determine whether there is some generic set of supply chain processes, which support material and information flows in a dyadic relationship. Through the literature review, two supply chain process frameworks (SCPFs), namely supply chain operations reference and global supply chain forum, have been identified together with nine evaluation criteria. Evaluation results provide evidence on the generic set of supply chain processes together with the insights into specific advantages and common shortcomings of these two widely recognised SCPFs.
An Evaluation of Service Quality of Mobily and STC Telecommunication Companies in Saudi Arabia

The study aims at evaluating service quality of Mobily and STC; the main providers of telecommunication services in Saudi Arabia. The study uses the five quality dimensions introduced by [1]; assurance, empathy, reliability, responsiveness and tangibles. For this purpose, 300 questionnaires are collected and analyzed. The study reveals that the level of service quality in Mobily is of mid-high level in all dimensions. Mobily sequence of dimensions are as follows; empathy, tangibles, responsiveness, reliability and assurance comes last. On the other hand, STC level of quality services starts with tangibles and empathy in the mid-high level while responsiveness, reliability and assurance come in the average level of quality. The study reveals that Mobily performs better than STC in all the five quality dimensions and the differences between the two companies are of significant values. Finally, male and female respondents in the study agree on their opinions on both companies.
Phylogenetic Implications of Pollen Morphology and Ultrastructure in The Barnadesioideae (Asteraceae)

Abstract: The subfamily Barnadesioideae of the Asteraceae consists of nine genera and approximately 90 species. Both molecular and morphological phylogenies indicate that this subfamily is sister to the rest of the family. We have used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to study pollen of 41 species from all genera of the Barnadesioideae. Three general pollen types are described in the subfamily: Barnadesia-type (Barnadesia, Huarpea), Chuquiraga-type (Chuquiraga, Doniophyton, Duseniella, Fulcaldea) and Dasyphyllum-type (Dasyphyllum and Schlechtendalia). A fourth type, Amaldoa-type, consisting solely of Arnaldoa, is intermediate between the Chuquiraga- and Dasyphyllum-types. These types parallel and confirm findings from previous studies. Psilolophate grains are found only in the Barnadesia-type. Pollen with a cavity (cavea) between pollen wall units in each of the three interapertural regions is present in Barnadesia (Barnadesia-type), Dasyphyllum (Dasyphyllum-type) and Arnaldoa (Arnaldoa-type). The Chuquiraga-type does not have cavate pollen. Intercolpar concavities occur only in the Dasyphyllum- and Arnaldoa-types. In the latter, intercolpar regions are accompanied by pairs of indentations flanking the colpi. The presence of intercolpar concavities in Dasyphyllum and Schlechtendalia, often cited as a synapomorphy for the Barnadesioideae and Calyceraceae, has apparently evolved independently within the sub-family. Chuquiraga pollen exhibits the least derived palynological features in the subfamily. Palynological characters, when placed in the context of current phylogenies for the Barnadesioideae, suggest additional phylogenetic analyses are needed to re-evaluate intergeneric relationships within the subfamily.
Endoscopic partial laminectomy for cervical myelopathy.

OBJECT The authors report the results of endoscopic partial laminectomy performed in 10 patients with degenerative cervical compressive myelopathy. METHODS Endoscopic partial laminectomy was performed safely in 10 patients with cervical myelopathy. All of the patients experienced symptomatic improvement with slight postoperative wound pain. The mean operative duration was 164+/-35 minutes and the mean intraoperative blood loss was 45.5+/-27 ml. CONCLUSIONS Endoscopic partial laminectomy may be used as a minimally invasive alternative for the treatment of cervical compressive myelopathy.
Dynamic data flow and control flow in high level DSP code synthesis

The design of today's complex digital signal processing systems, such as communication equipment, increasingly relies on sophisticated CAD tools for block diagram oriented analysis and simulation. Recent work has been concerned with the integration of such simulation tools and those for implementation, i.e. for hardware or software synthesis. Data flow oriented approaches have proven to be very well suited for both tasks due to the nature of most digital signal processing applications. The control of multiple cooperating data flow tasks (including resource management) is an important issue in most digital signal processor (DSP) based systems. This paper describes the integration of control flow into data flow oriented simulation and synthesis. A heterogeneous modeling scheme is proposed. The focus is kept on maintaining the efficiency and simplicity of the data paths while offering additional expressiveness which-as does the data flow paradigm-closely matches the way of thinking of communications system engineers. The usefulness of the novel concepts is demonstrated by a prototype implementation of a digital receiver for wireless data communication. <<ETX>>
How brand orientation impacts B2B service brand equity? An empirical study among Chinese firms

Purpose – The paper aims to explore how brand orientation impacts brand equity via internal branding, presented brand, word-of-mouth and customer experience from stakeholder interaction perspective in industrial services context. Brand orientation has emerged as an attractive business philosophy for industrial service companies who believe that brand plays an influential role in delivering customer value and improving firm’s performance. However, the impact of brand orientation upon brand equity is not clear yet, and the active roles of multiple stakeholders in co-creating brand equity are largely neglected in business-to-business (B2B) branding literature. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey was conducted among 258 pairs of firms located in mainland China. A total of nine research hypotheses related to how brand orientation impacts B2B service brand equity were examined by structural equation modeling technique. Findings – The research findings indicate: a company with high level of bran.
Guest Loyalty Likelihood in Relation to Hotels' Corporate Image and Reputation: A Study of Three Countries in Europe

ABSTRACT Corporate reputation and corporate image are identified as potentially influencing guest loyalty likelihood toward the hotel firm. However, the precise nature of the relationships that exist between hotels' corporate reputation and corporate image and the understanding of their effect on customer behavior remains a challenge for both academia and hotel management alike. With data collected in three European countries, namely in the United Kingdom, in Greece and in Germany, this study contributes to the body of knowledge by empirically testing the nature of the relationship between corporate reputation and corporate image in the hospitality industry and their effect on the guests' loyalty decisions. The results of the study reveal that the degree of guest loyalty appears higher when perceptions of both corporate reputation and image are strongly favorable. The interaction between both constructs contributes to better explain guest loyalty likelihood.
Prevalence of lymphoplasmacytic synovitis in dogs with naturally occurring cranial cruciate ligament rupture.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of lymphoplasmacytic synovitis (LPS) in dogs with naturally occurring cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) rupture and compare clinical, radiographic, cytologic, and histologic findings in dogs with and without LPS. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. ANIMALS 110 dogs with naturally occurring CCL rupture. PROCEDURES Histologic examination of synovial biopsy specimens obtained at the time of surgical treatment was used to identify dogs with LPS. Clinical, radiographic, cytologic, and histologic findings were compared between dogs with and without LPS. RESULTS 56 (51%) dogs had histologic evidence of LPS. There were no significant differences in age, body weight, duration of lameness, severity of lameness, severity of radiographic signs of degenerative joint disease, extent of CCL rupture (partial vs complete), or gross appearance of the medial meniscus between dogs with and without LPS. Mean tibial plateau angle was significantly lower in dogs with LPS than in dogs without LPS, and dogs with LPS were significantly more likely to have neutrophils in their synovial fluid. Lymphocytes were seen in synovial fluid from a single dog with LPS. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results suggested that LPS was common in dogs with naturally occurring CCL rupture. However, only minor clinical, radiographic, cytologic, and histologic differences were identified between dogs with and without LPS.
The Reliability of the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators Pressure Ulcer Indicator: A Triangulation Approach

A triangulation approach was used to examine the reliability of the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators pressure ulcer indicator that included direct observation of these wounds in hospitalized patients and web-based testing with and without accompanying wound descriptions. Overall &kgr; coefficients for pressure ulcer identification, staging, and origin indicate moderate to near perfect reliability and suggest that web-based testing can estimate the reliability of pressure ulcer staging from direct observation. Nurse certification in wound care and wound descriptors improved reliability levels.
Quota systems for disabled persons: parameters, aspects, effectivity

the integration of disabled people in the labour market represents one of the biggest challenges for social and labour market policies. healthimpaired persons face a range of employment barriers, not least because recent changes in technology and globalisation trends have led to a shift towards highly-skilled jobs. thus, there is a reduced demand for less qualified types of labour, in which disabled persons are over-represented. In addition, the recent economic crisis hit disadvantaged people hard and increased their inactivityand unemployment rates.
DUS Characterization for Farmer varieties of rice

For the establishment of the distinctness among Sixty-five landraces of rice, forty three characters were used. Characterization of Sixty-five landraces of rice was done using forty three agro-morphological traits following Distinctiveness, Uniformity and Stability test (DUS) during kharif season of 2011 at the DRR farm, ICRISAT campus. Out of Sixty-five varieties studied, thirty-two were found to be distinctive on the basis of twenty two essential and twenty four additional characters. This study will be useful for breeders, researchers and farmers to identify and choose the restoration and conservation of beneficial genes for crop improvement and also to seek protection under Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmer's Rights Act.
Exploration versus exploitation: Emotions and performance 1 EXPLORATION VERSUS EXPLOITATION: EMOTIONS AND PERFORMANCE AS ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF TEAM DECISIONS

We analyze performance and emotions as antecedents and consequences of team strategic decisions to explore a new routine versus exploit an existing routine. In a laboratory study, we examine team decision making over time and draw causal inferences about the relationships among team emotions, team performance, and explore-exploit decisions. We use self-report data to measure team emotions, and validate results with psychophysiological data. We find that declines in performance increase the likelihood that teams decide to explore new routines rather than exploit existing ones. We also find a marginal positive effect of positive emotions, as measured by both self-report and psychophysiological data, on team decisions to explore a new routine. Further, teams successful at implementing the new routine report increased positive emotions, as measured by the self-report data. This relationship is fully mediated by performance change.
Dynamic brain responses to eye gaze perception between directly facing subjects

Here we used neuromagnetic recording (magnetoencephalography: MEG) to measure brain responses while the observer perceives changes in eye gaze, namely (a) the eye-contact and (b) the averting conditions, of the directly facing person. The MEG signals were analyzed in the time-frequency domain to evaluate event-related changes in the spontaneous brain activities induced by the onset of eye movements. Significant increase in the gamma-band power was observed in the eye-contact condition compared to the averting condition in the bilateral superior-temporal and frontal areas. Frequency-domain Granger-Geweke causality was used to test if there were causal connectivity between the areas where significant changes in gamma-band power were observed. The preliminary results indicate that the connectivity between (a) the bilateral frontal areas, and (b) the right frontal and parietal areas might be crucial for the perception of eye gaze of the directly facing person.
Hashtags and handshakes: consumer motives and platform use in brand-consumer interactions

Purpose – The current increase in social media activity related to brand–consumer interactions is progressively influencing the manner in which brands and their customers communicate. Whereas this attention to social media is warranted, researchers and brand managers must also recognize that consumers connect and engage with brands across other communication platforms as well. Accordingly, this study aims to examine brand–consumer interactions taking place across social, online and physical platforms, as well as consumer motives for initiating these brand interactions across various platforms. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed-method approach integrating quantitative and qualitative data was used. We administered a written diary to 102 individuals over a two-month period, in which study participants recorded their motivations and platform use in their interactions with a brand. We evaluated latent-class mixture models for complex data and multi-level latent-class mixture models to identify classes of .
High-Performance Human Resource Practices, Citizenship Behavior, and Organizational Performance: A Relational Perspective

Taking a relational perspective on the employment relationship, we examined processes (mediation and moderation) linking high-performance human resource practices and productivity and turnover, two indicators of organizational performance. Multilevel analysis of data from hotels in the People's Republic of China revealed that service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) partially mediated the relationships between high-performance human resource practices and both performance indicators. Unemployment rate moderated the service-oriented OCB-turnover relationship, and business strategy (service quality) moderated the service-oriented OCB-productivity relationship. Copyright of the Academy of Management, all rights reserved.
REPLENISHMENT AND TRANSPORTATION PRICING DECISIONS UNDER TWO INDEPENDENT CARRIERS WITH DIFFERENT MODES

REPLENISHMENT AND TRANSPORTATION PRICING DECISIONS UNDER TWO INDEPENDENT CARRIERS WITH DIFFERENT MODES Safa Onur Bingöl M.S. in Industrial Engineering Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Toptal January, 2009 Freight transportation constitutes a substantial cost component in global economics and consumes significant amounts of energy. With the increasing oil prices, scarcity of resources and environmental concerns, efficient operation of transportation activities has become even more important than it was in the past. These raising concerns necessitate the companies which utilize this activity to plan for transportation more carefully and conservatively, and the ones that support it to appraise its value more cautiously. In this thesis, we consider a setting consisting of a retailer, a truck-load carrier and a less-than-truck-load carrier. We model and solve the retailer’s integrated inventory and transportation problem under the presence of two modes of carriers. Characterising the solution for the retailer’s replenishment problem, we then analyze the transportation pricing decisions of the carriers. We show that substantial savings can be achieved by the retailer due to integrating inventory and transportation decisions. We also quantify the savings for the TL carrier and the LTL carrier through carefully determining their transportation price schedules.
Investor-Specific Cost of Capital and Renewable Energy Investment Decisions

The following sections are included:IntroductionConceptual ModelThe Cost of Capital in Valuation Methods and its DeterminantsCost of Capital Levels for Three Different Investor GroupsComparison of Investment Profiles of Renewable and Fossil Energy ProjectsDCF and Cost-Based Valuation and How Capital Costs Impact the OutcomeConclusion: Renewable Energy Investment Decisions as a Function of Cost of CapitalReferences
Comparison of demography, diet, lifestyle, and serum lipid levels between the Guangxi Bai Ku Yao and Han populations Published, JLR Papers in Press, September 21, 2007.

Bai Ku Yao is an isolated subgroup of the Yao minority in China. Little is known about dyslipidemia in this population. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of demography, diet, and lifestyle on serum lipid levels between the Bai Ku Yao and Han populations. A total of 1,170 subjects of Bai Ku Yao and 1,173 subjects of Han Chinese aged 15–89 years were surveyed by a stratified randomized cluster sampling. The levels of total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I), and apoB were significantly lower in Bai Ku Yao than in Han. Physical activity level and total dietary fiber intake were higher, whereas body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, total energy intake, and total fat intake were lower in Bai Ku Yao than in Han. Hyperlipidemia was positively correlated with BMI, waist circumference, and total energy and total fat intakes and negatively associated with physical activity level and total dietary fiber intake in both populations, but it was positively associated with age and alcohol consumption only in Han. The differences in the lipid profiles between the two ethnic groups were associated with different dietary habits, lifestyle choices, and levels of physical activities.
Dimensions of Business and Nonprofit Collaborative Relationships

SUMMARY Collaborative relationships between businesses and nonprofits have grown tremendously in the last few years. These cross-sector alliances are different from within-sector alliances (business-business alliances) which has been examined in prior research, and include corporate philanthropy, corporate foundations, licensing agreements, sponsorships, transaction based promotions, joint issue promotions, and joint ventures. This paper discusses the growth, size, and scope of various business and nonprofit collaborative relationships and develops a typology of these relationships. Motivations for business-nonprofit collaborations and expected outcomes are presented as well as fruitful topics for further investigation.
Typhoid perforation: Choice of operation

Over a 17‐year period 93 patients have been treated for typhoid perforation of the bowel. Forty‐three of these have been treated by closure of the perforation, and 42 by end‐to‐side ileotransverse colostomy. These two groups are compared. Although there was no difference in mortality, postoperative morbidity in survivors was less in those having an end‐to‐side ileotransverse colostomy. End‐to‐side ileotransverse colostomy is a logical operation based upon the pathological changes in the bowel produced by typhoid fever and is the operation of choice.