Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Implications of records management policy for the small and medium enterprises sustainability in Raymond Mhlaba municipality in South Africa

This study examined records management policy (RMP) compliance in South Africa by the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The paper highlights challenges faced by companies in establishing records management policy, as most companies are not trained to maintain and manage business records. This is one of the major reasons as to why there is a need for a regulatory framework and policy to guide firms on the importance of maintaining records of business information that are generated by companies. The ability to develop standard RMP compliance will improve Business intelligence (BI) gathering and ensure that firms comply with standard records management practices that promote accountability and assist revenue agencies to monitor tax compliances. An exploratory study was conducted, and a qualitative approach was adopted. A purposive sampling technique was used to sample managers responsible for SMMEs in Raymond Mhlaba Municipality, and data were collected through interviews and observations. The findings revealed that the existing policy and regulatory framework did not address small firm’s RMP compliance, businesses lack RM skills to implement RM policy, they did not have a standard to guide their RM practices, policies were not tailor-made to suit the unique needs of the SMMEs’ RM practices, there was no RMP awareness and training to enable the companies to comply and monitoring mechanisms were not available to measure the firms RM practices. The study recommended training that would enable firms to guide their RM practices; government should establish legal framework that would allow them to monitor compliance with standards, which allows firms to evaluate their RMP, develop RM practices and improve compliance for a sustainable enterprise.
Impulse response of grounding grids: Experimental versus simulated results

The experimental and simulated responses of a grounding grid, comprising 20 4-m-×-4-m meshes buried in a 160-Ωm soil, subjected to currents with lightning-patterned waveforms were determined. Simulations considered assumptions of constant and frequency dependent soil resistivity and permittivity. The amplitude and waveform of the measured and simulated grounding potential rise were quite similar and, due to the low value of soil resistivity, the frequency dependence of soil parameters practically did not affect the results.
The role of IT Governance in digital operating models

Many researches have dedicated their work in IT Governance and numerous methods, techniques and tools for making decisions to align IT to a business strategy were proposed in the last decade. In the meantime new digital business models developed rapidly and aligning business with IT have become more difficult ever. Governance frameworks are widely used to reduce complexity in the decision making process and organisations tend to use several topic related governance frameworks beside IT Governance. Different governance frameworks are related, dependent and interact under each other and since they all have their own method of measurement and evaluation, the interaction suffers of a lack of data consistency or they do not take all dimensions of decision making into account. Furthermore the lack of consistency is caused by definition of governance frameworks itself and lead to concurring goals among governing bodies. This paper proposes a design goal for a method of measurement by (1) critically review the existing state of art of measurement and evaluation concepts of governance frameworks by following a comprehensive review of the normative literature dealing with the measurement aspects of IT Governance and (2) analysing a dataset (n=51) of a preliminary study done in spring 2017 with Swiss companies.
Protein-Mediated Adhesion of the Dissimilatory Fe(III)-Reducing Bacterium Shewanella alga BrY to Hydrous Ferric Oxide

ABSTRACT The rate and extent of bacterial Fe(III) mineral reduction are governed by molecular-scale interactions between the bacterial cell surface and the mineral surface. These interactions are poorly understood. This study examined the role of surface proteins in the adhesion of Shewanella alga BrY to hydrous ferric oxide (HFO). Enzymatic degradation of cell surface polysaccharides had no effect on cell adhesion to HFO. The proteolytic enzymesStreptomyces griseus protease and chymotrypsin inhibited the adhesion of S. alga BrY cells to HFO through catalytic degradation of surface proteins. Trypsin inhibited S. algaBrY adhesion solely through surface-coating effects. Protease and chymotrypsin also mediated desorption of adhered S. algaBrY cells from HFO while trypsin did not mediate cell desorption. Protease removed a single peptide band that represented a protein with an apparent molecular mass of 50 kDa. Chymotrypsin removed two peptide bands that represented proteins with apparent molecular masses of 60 and 31 kDa. These proteins represent putative HFO adhesion molecules.S. alga BrY adhesion was inhibited by up to 46% when cells were cultured at sub-MICs of chloramphenicol, suggesting that protein synthesis is necessary for adhesion. Proteins extracted from the surface of S. alga BrY cells inhibited adhesion to HFO by up to 41%. A number of these proteins bound specifically to HFO, suggesting that a complex system of surface proteins mediates S. alga BrY adhesion to HFO.
O2−sensitive K+ channels in immortalised rat chromaffin‐cell‐derived MAH cells

The regulation of K+ channels by O2 levels is a key link between hypoxia and neurotransmitter release in neuroendocrine cells. Here, we examined the effects of hypoxia on K+ channels in the immortalised v‐myc, adrenal‐derived HNK1+ (MAH) cell line. MAH cells possess a K+ conductance that is sensitive to Cd2+, iberiotoxin and apamin, and which is inhibited by ≈24 % when exposed to a hypoxic perfusate (O2 tension 20 mmHg). This conductance was attributed to high‐conductance Ca2+‐activated K+ (BK) and small‐conductance Ca2+‐activated K+ (SK) channels, which are major contributors to the O2‐sensitive K+ conductance in adrenomedullary chromaffin cells. Under low [Ca2+]i conditions that prevented activation of Ca2+‐dependent K+ conductances, a rapidly activating and slowly inactivating K+ conductance, sensitive to both TEA and 4‐aminopyridine (4‐AP), but insensitive to 100 nm charybdotoxin (CTX), was identified. This current was also reduced (by ≈25 %) when exposed to hypoxia. The hypoxia‐sensitive component of this current was greatly attenuated by 10 mm 4‐AP, but was only slightly reduced by 10 mm TEA. This suggests the presence of delayed‐rectifier O2‐sensitive channels comprising homomultimeric Kv1.5 or heteromultimeric Kv1.5/Kv1.2 channel subunits. The presence of both Kv1.5 and Kv1.2 α‐subunits was confirmed using immunocytochemical techniques. We also demonstrated that these K+ channel subunits are present in neonatal rat adrenomedullary chromaffin cells in situ. These data indicate that MAH cells possess O2‐sensitive K+ channels with characteristics similar to those observed previously in isolated chromaffin cells, and therefore provide an excellent model for examining the cellular mechanisms of O2 sensing in adrenomedullary chromaffin cells.
Retinoic acid induced neural differentiation in a neuroectodermal cell line immortalized by p53 deficiency

Neuroepithelial cell lines were established from cerebral vesicles of 9‐day‐old mouse embryos lacking functional p53 genes (Livingstone et al: Cell 70:923–935, 1992). All‐trans retinoic acid (RA) induced bulk formation of neurons both in several p53‐deficient neuroepithelial cell lines and in wild‐type neural cells derived from early embryonic (E9–E12) forebrain vesicles. Forty‐eight‐hour treatment with 10−6 MRA was necessary and sufficient to initiate neuron formation by p53‐/‐‐progenitors, but neuronal characteristics appeared with a delay of 3–4 days. The first appearance of cells with astroglial features followed that of neurons with a further delay of 4–5 days. The establishment of neuronal phenotypes involved minimally three rounds of cell cycle. Future neurons were sorted out from substrate‐attached cells and were characterized by a specific rearrangement of nestin‐immunoreactive filaments. The formation of neuronal phenotypes was not synchronized within the RA‐treated cell populations. The data indicate that RA, which promotes the initiation of neural differentiation, cannot function as a direct regulator of cell‐fate decisions made by neural progenitor cells. J. Neurosci. Res. 47:405–415, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Mouse hepatitis virus utilizes two carcinoembryonic antigens as alternative receptors

The cellular receptor for the murine coronavirus mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) has been identified as a member of the murine carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) family (R. K. Williams, G. S. Jiang, and K. V. Holmes, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:5533-5536, 1991). However, the receptor protein was not detected in some of the susceptible mouse tissues. We therefore examined whether other types of MHV receptor might exist. By polymerase chain reaction with the conserved sequences of murine CEA gene family members (mmCGM) as primers, we detected two CEA-encoding RNAs in the mouse liver. One of them (1.3 kb) encodes mmCGM1, which has previously been identified as the receptor for MHV, and the other one (0.8 kb) was shown to encode another member of mouse CGM, mmCGM2. The sequence analysis showed that mmCGM2 lacks 564 nucleotides in the middle of the gene compared with mmCGM1. These two CEA transcripts are probably derived from the same gene by an alternative splicing mechanism. Expression of either of these cDNA clones in COS-7 cells rendered these cells susceptible to MHV infection, suggesting that not only mmCGM1 but also mmCGM2 serves as a receptor for MHV. The mmCGM2 was the major CEA species in the mouse brain, which is a main target organ for the neurotropic strains of MHV. Very little mmCGM1 was detected in the mouse brain or in cells of the susceptible mouse astrocytoma cell line DBT. This result indicates that MHV may utilize different CEA molecules as the major receptor in the mouse brain and in the liver. This is a first identification of multiple receptors for a single virus. The presence of different receptors in different tissues may explain the target cell specificity of certain MHVs.
Assessment of vitamin D and vitamin A intake by female students at the United Arab Emirates University based on self-reported dietary and selected fortified food consumption

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), many adolescent girls and women (especially the UAE citizens) are not adequately exposed to sunlight and their dietary intake of vitamin D is insufficient to fulfill the required recommended daily allowance of the vitamin. In the present study, the problem of vitamin D and vitamin A insufficiency in female students of UAE University was investigated through a dietary intake assessment of the vitamins. Results indicated that over 70% of female students constituting the survey population did not consume enough milk and other vitamin-D-rich foods, and many showed poor food habits. Prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency among the population studied indicated that 37% of the total population was considered vitamin D insufficient and 40% of the female students residing in the hostels also had vitamin D insufficiency ( < 5 μg/day) based on self-reported dietary and selected fortified food consumption.
Socially Responsible Bidding Firms and Acquisitions Decisions: Australian Evidence

This paper extends our knowledge on acquisition decisions by examining whether a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities influence the choice and Merger and Acquisition (M&A) performance. Our empirical results reveal several new insights. First, we find that targets with CSR activities are more likely to be acquired by CSR oriented bidder firms. This finding is consistent with the idea that managers of Australian firms that undertake CSR activities are also likely to acquire a target firm with CSR practices. We also investigate the acquisition decisions and performance of socially responsible bidding firms. We find that the announcement period abnormal return is positive and significant when CSR-oriented bidding firms announce an acquisition decision in the market. Consistently, we show that socially responsible firms are more likely to pay a lower bid premium when they pay for acquisitions. Finally, we show that CSR firms make investment decisions consistent with shareholders’ wealth maximization objectives suggesting that CSR-oriented firms are better aligned with the other stakeholders of the firm. Our results are robust to a number of alternative proxies and sensitivity tests.
Persistence of RSV promotes proliferation and epithelial‐mesenchymal transition of bronchial epithelial cells through Nodal signaling

Purpose. Nodal may play an important role in the development of cancers. The present study was designed to determine the effects of Nodal induced by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection on the occurrence and development of lung cancer and the underlying mechanisms. Methodology. After verification of RSV infection by observation of cytopathic effect and indirect immunofluorescence, real‐time PCR, Western blot and methylation assays were used to verify the influence of RSV on Nodal expression. Then, a Nodal overexpressed vector was constructed and the effects of Nodal on the proliferation and apoptosis of bronchial epithelial cells (BECs) and epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) were assayed by flow cytometry and Western blot, respectively. Moreover, Lefty and pSmad2/3 were assayed by Western blot and Cyclin D1, CDK4, c‐myc and Bcl‐2 induced by Nodal overepression or RSV infection were also assayed by real‐time PCR. Results. The results showed that Nodal over expression and demethylation of the promoter were observed in BECs after RSV infection. Activation of Nodal promoted proliferation, colony formation and EMT and inhibited apoptosis of BECs. Nodal also promoted malignant change by promoting expression of cyclin D1 and related‐dependent kinase and inhibiting apoptosis. Besides, RSV infection inhibited Lefty expression and promoted the activation of pSmad2/3. RSV also promoted Cyclin D1, CDK4, c‐myc and Bcl‐2 expression through the activation of pSmad2/3. Conclusions. Our data showed that persistence of RSV promoted the proliferation, epithelial‐mesenchymal transition and expression of oncogenes through Nodal signaling, which may be associated with the occurrence and development of lung cancers.
Learning and flexibility for water supply infrastructure planning under diverse uncertainties

Water supply infrastructure planning faces many uncertainties. Uncertainty in short-term in rainfall and runoff, groundwater storage, and long-term climate change impacts water supply forecasts. Population and economic growth drive urban water demand growth at rapid but uncertain rates. Overbuilding infrastructure can lead to expensive stranded assets and unnecessary environmental impacts, while under building can cause reliability outages with impacts on the economy, ecosystems, and human health. This dissertation assesses the potential for Bayesian learning about uncertainty to enable flexible, adaptive approaches in which infrastructure can be changed over time to reduce cost risk while achieving reliability targets. It develops a novel planning framework that: 1) classifies uncertainties and applies appropriate, differentiated uncertainty analysis tools, 2) applies Bayesian inference to physical models of hydrology and climate to develop dynamic uncertainty estimates, and 3) uses stochastic dynamic programming and engineering options analysis to assess the value of flexibility in mitigating cost and reliability risk. This framework is applied to three applications. Chapter 3 evaluates the potential for modular desalination design to manage multiple, diverse uncertainties — streamflow, demand growth, and the cost of water shortages — in Melbourne, Australia. Chapter 4 addresses uncertainty in groundwater resources in desalination planning in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Chapter 5 addresses model uncertainty in climate change projections in a dam design problem in Mombasa, Kenya. Across all three applications, we find value in flexible infrastructure planning with a 9–28% reduction in expected cost. However, the performance of flexible approaches compared to traditional robust approaches varies considerably and is influenced by technology choice, economies of scale, discounting, the presence of irreducible stochastic variability, and the value society places on water reliability. Kenneth Strzepek Research Scientist Thesis Supervisor Olivier de Weck Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems Doctoral Committee Chair
Role of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring for Protease Inhibitors

OBJECTIVE: To review the role of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) for protease inhibitors in the treatment of HIV infection. DATA SOURCES: Primary articles were identified using MEDLINE (1966–October 2000), EMBASE (1987–October 2000), AIDSLINE (1980–October 2000), Current Contents, PubMed, and Medscape. Further articles were identified from bibliographic review of primary articles and review papers. Abstracts presented at the World AIDS Conference, Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, and Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections were also identified from 1997 to 2000. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: All English-language, prospective clinical trials, as well as selected retrospective studies and case series, pertaining to therapeutic drug monitoring of protease inhibitors were included. DATA SYNTHESIS: A number of clinical studies have found a good relationship between concentration and pharmacologic response and/or toxicity as well as wide interpatient variability in the pharmacokinetics of protease inhibitors. There also is some preliminary evidence of the usefulness of plasma drug concentrations to guide dosage adjustments of protease inhibitors in patients with liver dysfunction. Furthermore, there is preliminary evidence of a relationship between drug concentrations and resistance. CONCLUSIONS: A number of clinical studies support the usefulness of TDM of protease inhibitors. However, before TDM can be of the most value, further evaluation requires simplified and standardized assays to be performed routinely by clinical laboratories; determination of the appropriate target concentration and therapeutic range, as well as the best predictor of pharmacologic response; and refined interpretation of plasma drug concentrations. Randomized, controlled clinical trials of patient outcomes are needed to assess the clinical utility of TDM for protease inhibitors.
Compliance with open government data policies: An empirical assessment of Italian local public administrations

Open government is emerging as a core issue for increasing, on the one hand, participation of citizens, and, on the other hand, accountability, transparency, and the capability of delivering digital services by Public Administrations, with a consequent interest into public and social value as final outcomes. However, most of the open government initiatives actually concern the provision of public data under an open license and in an open and accessible format. From a policy as well as from a research point of view, open government raises a set of questions about how to manage and evaluate their quality, also considering the compliance with enforced legal frameworks, if any available focused specifically on open government issues. Thus, the paper discusses a quality-based framework for open government data compliance assessment, made up of quality dimensions and a set of criteria contributing to the measurement of a compliance index. The framework is then applied for the evaluation of the open government data initiatives of a sample of local public administration in Italy.
Use of a learning network to improve variation in interstage weight gain after the Norwood operation.

BACKGROUND Growth failure is common in infants with single ventricle. This study evaluated the use of a learning network, the National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative (NPC-QIC), to spread optimized nutritional practices and improve infant growth. METHODS A previously identified Nutritional Bundle was spread among NPC-QIC sites. PRIMARY OUTCOME interstage weight-for-age z-score change (ΔWAZ) between discharge from stage 1 palliation (S1) and stage 2 surgical palliation (S2). Variation among sites in interstage ΔWAZ was evaluated before (Period 1) and after (Period 2) spread of Nutritional Bundle. We performed an analysis of NPC-QIC registry infants presenting for S2 at sites previously shown to have significant variation in interstage patient growth. RESULTS Four hundred seven infants from 15 sites underwent S2 between 2008 and 2013: 158 in Period 1 (December 2008-December 2010) and 249 in Period 2 (December 2010-April 2013). Median age at S2 was 4.9 months (2.6-12.8) with no difference between periods. There was significant variation in interstage ΔWAZ among sites in Period 1 (P = .01) but not in Period 2 (P = .39). More patients had an interstage ΔWAZ <0 in Period 1 (43%) than Period 2 (32%) (P = .03). In Period 1, the median interstage ΔWAZ was <0 in six sites while in Period 2 no site had median interstage ΔWAZ <0. Sites with the worst patient growth in Period 1 had marked improvement in Period 2 (P = .02, .06, and .06, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Spread of optimal nutritional practices led to decreased variation in interstage growth with most improvement observed at sites with the worst baseline growth outcomes.
Thermodynamic stability and folding of proteins from hyperthermophilic organisms

Life grows almost everywhere on earth, including in extreme environments and under harsh conditions. Organisms adapted to high temperatures are called thermophiles (growth temperature 45–75 °C) and hyperthermophiles (growth temperature ≥ 80 °C). Proteins from such organisms usually show extreme thermal stability, despite having folded structures very similar to their mesostable counterparts. Here, we summarize the current data on thermodynamic and kinetic folding/unfolding behaviors of proteins from hyperthermophilic microorganisms. In contrast to thermostable proteins, rather few (i.e. less than 20) hyperthermostable proteins have been thoroughly characterized in terms of their in vitro folding processes and their thermodynamic stability profiles. Examples that will be discussed include co‐chaperonin proteins, iron‐sulfur‐cluster proteins, and DNA‐binding proteins from hyperthermophilic bacteria (i.e. Aquifex and Theromotoga) and archea (e.g. Pyrococcus, Thermococcus, Methanothermus and Sulfolobus). Despite the small set of studied systems, it is clear that super‐slow protein unfolding is a dominant strategy to allow these proteins to function at extreme temperatures.