Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
INDUSTRY, COUNTRY AND FIRM-SPECIFIC EFFECTS OF FIRMS COMPETING IN EMERGING ECONOMIES: EVIDENCE FROM LATIN AMERICA

This study explores the firm-specific, industry and country effects for firms competing in an emerging market context. For the whole sample, we find that the firm-specific effect is the most important and relatively the same in magnitude than that of developed countries. However, when analyzing the sub-sample of abnormal performers, we found that the firmspecific effect decreases and context-specific effects (i.e., industry and country effects) significantly increase. In addition, permanent effects are greater in high performers than in average performers. We understand these results as evidence of the importance of selecting the adequate strategic group in the industry and of establishing the correct fit between capabilities and positioning.
Nef of HIV‐1 interacts directly with calcium‐bound calmodulin

It was recently found that the myristoyl group of CAP‐23/NAP‐22, a neuron‐specific protein kinase C substrate, is essential for the interaction between the protein and Ca2+‐bound calmodulin (Ca2+/CaM). Based on the N‐terminal amino acid sequence alignment of CAP‐23/NAP‐22 and other myristoylated proteins, including the Nef protein from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), we proposed a new hypothesis that the protein myristoylation plays important roles in protein–calmodulin interactions. To investigate the possibility of direct interaction between Nef and calmodulin, we performed structural studies of Ca2+/CaM in the presence of a myristoylated peptide corresponding to the N‐terminal region of Nef. The dissociation constant between Ca2+/CaM and the myristoylated Nef peptide was determined to be 13.7 nM by fluorescence spectroscopy analyses. The NMR experiments indicated that the chemical shifts of some residues on and around the hydrophobic clefts of Ca2+/CaM changed markedly in the Ca2+/CaM‐Nef peptide complex with the molar ratio of 1:2. Correspondingly, the radius of gyration determined by the small angle X‐ray scattering measurements is 2–3 Å smaller that of Ca2+/CaM alone. These results demonstrate clearly that Nef interacts directly with Ca2+/CaM.
How Experience Variety Shapes Postpurchase Product Evaluation

Product usage experiences have a significant impact on postpurchase evaluation and subsequent behavior. Consumers look to their own experiences, as well as those of others, when deciding what to buy and what to recommend. Contrary to the intuition that varied experiences should enhance evaluation, five studies demonstrate that in some situations, perceiving usage experiences as less—not more—varied improves postpurchase product evaluation. Less varied usage experiences make consumers think that products are used more frequently. As a result, perceiving usage experiences as less varied makes consumers more satisfied with their purchase, more likely to buy it again, and more likely to recommend it. In addition to their practical implications, the findings make important theoretical contributions to the variety literature and toward understanding frequency and numerosity judgments.
Tune Cortical Feedback to the Olfactory Bulb

Sensory perception emerges from the confluence of sensory inputs that encode the composition of external environment and top-down feedback that conveys information from higher brain centers. In olfaction, sensory input activity is initially processed in the olfactory bulb (OB), serving as the first central relay before being transferred to the olfactory cortex. In addition, the OB receives dense connectivity from feedback projections, so the OB has the capacity to implement a wide array of sensory neuronal computation. However, little is known about the impact and the regulation of this cortical feedback. Here, we describe a novel mechanism to gate glutamatergic feedback selectively from the anterior olfactory cortex (AOC) to the OB. Combining in vitro and in vivo electrophysiological recordings, optogenetics, and fiber-photometry-based calcium imaging applied to wild-type and conditional transgenic mice, we explore the functional consequences of circuit-specific GABA type-B receptor (GABABR) manipulation. We found that activation of presynaptic GABABRs specifically depresses synaptic transmission from the AOC to OB inhibitory interneurons, but spares direct excitation to principal neurons. As a consequence, feedforward inhibition of spontaneous and odor-evoked activity of principal neurons is diminished. We also show that tunable cortico-bulbar feedback is critical for generating beta, but not gamma, OB oscillations. Together, these results show that GABABRs on cortico-bulbar afferents gate excitatory transmission in a target-specific manner and thus shape how the OB integrates sensory inputs and top-down information.
Spinal interleukin-1beta in a mouse model of arthritis and joint pain.

OBJECTIVE Pain from arthritis has been associated with peripheral sensitization of primary sensory afferents and the development of inflammation at the dorsal horns. This study was undertaken to determine whether the role of spinal interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) in central processing of pain is important in the development of arthritis. METHODS Col1-IL-1betaXAT mice and GFAP-IL-1betaXAT mice were injected with the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) (Cre) vector in the right and left temporomandibular joints (TMJs), or in the cisterna magna, respectively, to induce IL-1beta expression in the dorsal horns of the spinal horn. To inhibit intrathecal IL-1 receptor type I (IL-1RI) signaling, FIV(IL-1Ra) vector was injected into the cisterna magna of Col1-IL-1betaXAT mice. The effects of IL-1RI receptor inhibition in GFAP-IL-1betaXAT mice were studied in the GFAP-IL-1betaXAT-IL-1RI(-/-) compound mouse model. Neuroinflammatory, sensory, and behavioral changes were evaluated in conjunction with arthritic changes in the TMJ, assessed by histopathologic and immunohistochemical analyses. RESULTS Induction of an osteoarthritis-like condition in the TMJ in the Col1-IL-1betaXAT mouse model resulted in up-regulation of murine IL-1beta at the dorsal horns. Moreover, intrathecal inhibition of IL-1RI in Col1-IL-1betaXAT mice with arthritis led to amelioration of joint pathology and attenuation of the attendant joint pain. Overexpression of spinal IL-1beta in the recently developed GFAP-IL-1betaXAT somatic mosaic model of neuroinflammation led to development of arthritis-like pathology accompanied by increased pain-like behavior. CONCLUSION Our results indicate that joint pathology and pain are dependent on spinal IL-1beta, and suggest the presence of a bidirectional central nervous system-peripheral joints crosstalk that may contribute to the development, expansion, and exacerbation of arthritis.
Diaries and Calendars for Migraine. A Review

Headache is one of the most common types of pain and, in the absence of biological markers, headache diagnosis depends only on information obtained from clinical interviews and physical and neurological examinations. Headache diaries make it possible to record prospectively the characteristics of every attack and the use of headache calendars is indicated for evaluating the time pattern of headache, identifying aggravating factors and evaluating the efficacy of preventive treatment. This may reduce the recall bias and increase accuracy in the description. The use of diagnostic headache diaries does have some limitations because the patient's general acceptance is still limited and some subjects are not able to fill in a diary. In this review, we considered diaries and calendars especially designed for migraine and, in particular, we aimed at: (i) determining what instruments are available in clinical practice for diagnosis and follow-up of treatments; and (ii) describing the tools that have been developed for research and their main applications in the headache field. In addition to the literature review, we added two paragraphs concerning the authors' experience of the use of diaries and calendars in headache centres and their proposals for future areas of research.
The p2 domain of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Gag regulates sequential proteolytic processing and is required to produce fully infectious virions

The proteolytic processing sites of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Gag precursor are cleaved in a sequential manner by the viral protease. We investigated the factors that regulate sequential processing. When full-length Gag protein was digested with recombinant HIV-1 protease in vitro, four of the five major processing sites in Gag were cleaved at rates that differ by as much as 400-fold. Three of these four processing sites were cleaved independently of the others. The CA/p2 site, however, was cleaved approximately 20-fold faster when the adjacent downstream p2/NC site was blocked from cleavage or when the p2 domain of Gag was deleted. These results suggest that the presence of a C-terminal p2 tail on processing intermediates slows cleavage at the upstream CA/p2 site. We also found that lower pH selectively accelerated cleavage of the CA/p2 processing site in the full-length precursor and as a peptide primarily by a sequence-based mechanism rather than by a change in protein conformation. Deletion of the p2 domain of Gag results in released virions that are less infectious despite the presence of the processed final products of Gag. These findings suggest that the p2 domain of HIV-1 Gag regulates the rate of cleavage at the CA/p2 processing site during sequential processing in vitro and in infected cells and that p2 may function in the proper assembly of virions.
The Use of Transit Timing to Detect Terrestrial-Mass Extrasolar Planets

Future surveys for transiting extrasolar planets are expected to detect hundreds of jovian-mass planets and tens of terrestrial-mass planets. For many of these newly discovered planets, the intervals between successive transits will be measured with an accuracy of 0.1 to 100 minutes. We show that these timing measurements will allow for the detection of additional planets in the system (not necessarily transiting) by their gravitational interaction with the transiting planet. The transit-time variations depend on the mass of the additional planet, and in some cases terrestrial-mass planets will produce a measurable effect. In systems where two planets are seen to transit, the density of both planets can be determined without radial-velocity observations.
Molecular diversity among domestic guinea-pigs (Cavia porcellus) and their close phylogenetic relationship with the Andean wild species Cavia tschudii

Para investigar el origen y la divergencia de los cuyes domesticos Cavia porcellus (Linnaeus, 1758; Rodentia, Caviidae), secuenciamos el gen mitocondrial para citocromo b de 12 especimenes domesticos y 10 silvestres de seis especies, incluyendo las dos que se presumen como ancestro de la domestica: C. tschudii y C. aperea. Todos los analisis de maxima parsimonia y maxima verosimilitud agruparon a C. porcellus con C. tschudii (promedio de distancias K2P = 3,2 %); los mejores arboles tenian 609 pasos (CI = 0,796; Indice de Apoyo de Bremer (SI) = 28), y un _Ln = 4.419,52; con apoyos de remuestreo de 100 % y 97 % respectivamente. Dicho clado tambien aparecio en el analisis cladistico de los aminoacidos correspondientes, apoyado por tres sustituciones y 96 % remuestreo. Cuando el nodo de C. aperea fue forzado a unirse al de C. porcellus, estos arboles fueron consistentemente mas largos, menos probables y robustos, y con menos caracteres definitorios que el optimo. Todas las secuencias de C. porcellus se agruparon tambien en un nodo definido por 15 sustituciones. El subnodo con animales de mercados de ciudad, tiendas de mascota y laboratorios se caracterizo por cuatro sustituciones (una no silenciosa, SI = 7 y 91 % remuestreo). Los C. porcellus sudamericanos, llamados "criollos" por los criadores locales, son mas diversos. Probablemente, un clado del sur del Peru y Chile representa un linaje precolombino. La distancia K2P promedio entre C. tschudii y aperea fue mas bien grande, 7,7 %. Cavia aparecio como un nodo robusto (100 % remuestreo). Estos resultados indican que C. tschudii es la especie mas cercanamente relacionada a C. porcellus.
Plateletpheresis: comparison of platelet yields, processing time, and white cell content with two apheresis systems

Two apheresis systems (COBE Spectra and Fenwal CS‐3000 Plus with TNX‐6 chamber [CS‐3000 Plus]) were compared by using their yield predictors and maximum processing times in regard to platelet yields and processing times (n = 200 each). Platelet yields (n = 50 each) and white cell (WBC) content (n = 20 each) from procedures using the current software revision (3.6) on the Spectra and various interface offset (IO) settings on the CS‐3000 Plus were also compared. Significantly higher median platelet yields (4.88 [range, 1.84‐9.97] vs. 4.57 [range, 2.82‐9.20] × 10(11) platelets) and frequency of components with > or = 6.0 × 10(11) platelets (31.5 vs. 21.5%) were found with the Spectra. In the study with Spectra and the CS‐3000 Plus IO settings, IO‐10 and IO‐13, overall, produced the most platelets, although the differences were not significant. All Spectra collections tested had < 5 × 10(8) WBCs, and, depending on the software revision, had either 85 percent (revision 3.6) or 100 percent (revision 2.5) of components with < 5 × 106 WBCs. To ensure that 100 percent of components contained < 5 × 108 WBCs when the CS‐3000 Plus was used, IO settings of 10 or less were required, and to ensure components with < 5 × 10(6) WBCs, only IO‐6 could be used. Spectra and CS‐3000 Plus were capable of collecting large doses of platelets (up to the equivalent of 18 units) in processing times of 67 to 100 minutes with < 5 × 106 WBCs.
Driving Forces for Bicarbonate Transport in the Cyanobacterium Synechococcus R-2 (PCC 7942)

Air-grown Synechococcus R-2 (PCC 7942) cultures grown in BG-11 medium are very alkaline (outside pH is 10.0) and use HCO3- as their inorganic carbon source. The cells showed a dependence on Na+ for photosynthesis, but low Na+ conditions (1 mol m-3) were sufficient to support saturating photosynthesis. The intracellular dissolved inorganic carbon in the light was greater than 20 mol m-3 in both low-Na+ conditions and in BG-11 medium containing the usual [Na+] (24 mol m-3, designated high-Na+ conditions). The electrochemical potential for HCO3- in the light was in excess of 25 kJ mol-1, even in high-Na+ conditions. The Na+-motive force was greater than -12 kJ mol-1 under both Na+ conditions. On thermodynamic grounds, an Na+-driven co-port process would need to have a stoichiometry of 2 or greater ([greater than or equal to]2Na+ in/HCO3–1 in), but we show that Na+ or K+ fluxes cannot be linked to HCO3- transport. Na+ and K+ fluxes were unaffected by the presence or absence of dissolved inorganic carbon. In low-Na+ conditions, Na+ fluxes are too low to support the observed net 14C-carbon fixation rate. Active transport of HCO3- hyperpolarizes (not depolarizes) the membrane potential.
Development and testing of invasion-associated DNA probes for detection of Shigella spp. and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli

Genetic determinants of the invasive phenotype of Shigella spp. and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC), two common agents of bacillary dysentery, are encoded on large (180- to 210 kilobase), nonconjugative plasmids. Several plasmid-encoded antigens have been implicated as important bacterial ligands that mediate the attachment and invasion of colonic epithelial cells by the bacteria. Selected invasion plasmid antigen (ipa) genes have recently been cloned from Shigella flexneri serotype 5 into the lambda gt11 expression vector. Portions of three ipa genes (ipaB, ipaC, and ipaD) were tested as DNA probes for diagnostic detection of bacillary dysentery. Under stringent DNA hybridization conditions, all three DNA sequences hybridized to a single 4.6-kilobase HindIII fragment of the invasion plasmids of representative virulent Shigella spp. and EIEC strains. No hybridization was detected in isogenic, noninvasive Shigella mutants which had lost the invasion plasmid or had deleted the ipa gene region. Furthermore, these probes did not react with over 300 other enteric and nonenteric gram-negative bacteria tested, including Salmonella, Yersinia, Edwardsiella, Campylobacter, Vibrio, Klebsiella, Aeromonas, Enterobacter, Rickettsia, and Citrobacter spp. and various pathogenic E. coli strains. The use of unique invasion-essential gene segments as probes for the specific detection of invasive dysentery organisms should benefit both epidemiologic and diagnostic analyses of Shigella spp. and EIEC.
Outcomes in Advanced Head and Neck Cancer Treated with Up-front Neck Dissection prior to (Chemo)Radiotherapy

Objective Our aim was to compare outcomes with and without up-front neck dissection prior to (chemo)radiotherapy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Study Design Case series with chart review. Setting Tertiary referral center. Subjects and Methods Outcomes of oropharyngeal, laryngeal, and hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma cases with neck lymph node metastases treated from January 2001 to March 2012 were analyzed. Due to imbalances in baseline characteristics between groups treated with (n = 129) and without (n = 95) up-front neck dissection, propensity score matching was performed. Results Median follow-up was 48 months (range, 12-148). With up-front neck dissection, the hazard ratio for the primary end point, disease-free survival, was 0.63 (95% confidence interval: 0.37-1.06, P = .08). Up-front neck dissection reduced acute grade ≥3 toxicity significantly when xerostomia was excluded (odds ratio: 0.40, 95% confidence interval: 0.20-0.82, P = .012). Conclusion Our results indicate less acute treatment toxicity without any significant difference in terms of oncologic outcome with up-front neck dissection prior to (chemo)radiotherapy as compared with (chemo)radiotherapy alone. Well-designed randomized trials are required to verify this result and further investigate the impact of this strategy on late toxicity and oncologic outcome.
Postoperative Radiographs as Predictors of Clinical Outcome in Unstable Ankle Fractures

Summary This study reviews a group of 80 consecutive displaced ankle fractures treated operatively and followed for an average of 3.2 years. Fractures included bone or combined bone and ligamentous injuries in which the initial talar displacement was 2 mm. The immediate postoperative roentgenograms were examined for several features, which included widening of the syndesmosis, fibular length, talo-crural angle, talar tilt, presence and size of a posterior malleolar fracture, and an abnormality of the medial clear space. Patients were examined at follow-up per Cedell, and their clinical evaluations were correlated with the analysis of radiographic features and demographic data. Good to excellent results were seen in 80% of the cases. The radiographic factors most predictive of a poor outcome were abnormal medial clear space and the presence of a large (>20%) posterior malleolar fracture (p <0.05). Fibular shortening, talar tilt, and syndesmotic widening suggested a poor result, but these findings were not statistically significant. Multiple (two or more) radiographic abnormalities correlated with a poor prognosis. Conversely, a perfect radiographic result did not guarantee an excellent clinical outcome. Older patients and those with a delay between injury and surgery >7 days tended to have a poorer result.
Effect of Speckle Noise in Ultrasonic Measurement on Two-Dimensional Ultrasonic-Measurement-Integrated Blood Flow Analysis

Information on hemodynamics is essential for elucidation of mechanisms and development of novel diagnostic methods for circulatory diseases. The authors’ group developed a two-dimensional ultrasonicmeasurement-integrated (2D-UMI) blood flow analysis system for easy acquisition of an intravascular blood flow field and hemodynamics using 2D-UMI simulation, which feeds back an ultrasonic measurement to the numerical blood flow simulation aiming at clinical application. Also, in a numerical experiment of three-dimensional UMI simulation, the effect of ultrasonic measurement noise assuming Gaussian distribution was examined. However, the effect of speckle noise of actual ultrasonic measurement on analysis accuracy is unknown, and the clarification of this effect is essential for clinical application of 2D-UMI simulation. The aim of this study was to clarify the effect of speckle noise in ultrasonic measurement on 2D-UMI blood flow analysis results. Ultrasonic measurement and 2D-UMI analysis for a steady flow in a circular pipe downstream of a stenosis were performed by a 2D-UMI blood flow analysis system. As a result, the optimum feedback gain was determined so that the error between the analysis result and frame-averaged measurement result of ultrasonic Doppler velocity was minimal. Finally, the 2D-UMI analysis result for the optimum gain was compared with a commonly used frame-averaged result obtained from those for higher feedback gain, and the effectiveness of the analysis result for the optimum gain was confirmed.
Should Critical Care Medicine be a Formal Part of the Undergraduate Curriculum?

Medical students were surveyed shortly after completing the third year of medical school. The survey was designed to identify those areas of critical care medicine students had been exposed to and expressed interest in learning more about. In addition, the surveys sought to discern the level of confidence students felt with respect to different critical illnesses and intensive care unit (ICU) therapeutic modalities. Finally, the students were asked their opinion regarding the possibility or need for critical care medicine as part of their medical school curriculum. The three most common topics of interest among medical students who had recently finished their third year in medical school were shock, hemodynamic monitoring, and mechanical ventilation. Less than 30% of the students surveyed felt “better-than-average” confidence on any one of a number of critical care topics and treatment modalities. Of the 80% of students (n = 70) who completed the survey, 91% (n = 64) felt that critical care medicine should be made a part of the medical school curriculum, 6% (n = 4) felt it should not, and 3% (n = 2) were undecided. The survey results and the finding that most of the relevant literature acknowledges the need for critical care medicine in medical school has led us to conclude that a national core clerkship or a didactic lecture series in critical care medicine should be carefully designed and implemented into the undergraduate curriculum.
Metallothioneins and zinc in cancer diagnosis and therapy

Metallothioneins (MTs) are involved in protection against oxidative stress (OS) and toxic metals and they participate in zinc metabolism and its homeostasis. Disturbing of zinc homeostasis can lead to formation of reactive oxygen species, which can result in OS causing alterations in immunity, aging, and civilization diseases, but also in cancer development. It is not surprising that altered zinc metabolism and expression of MTs are of great interest in the case of studying of oncogenesis and cancer prognosis. The role of MTs and zinc in cancer development is tightly connected, and the structure and function of MTs are strongly dependent on Zn2+ redox state and its binding to proteins. Antiapoptic effects of MTs and their interactions with proteins nuclear factor kappa B, protein kinase C, esophageal cancer-related gene, and p53 as well as the role of MTs in their proliferation, immunomodulation, enzyme activation, and interaction with nitric oxide are reviewed. Utilization of MTs in cancer diagnosis and therapy is summarized and their importance for chemoresistance is also mentioned.