Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ocular Penetration of Grepafloxacin after Intravitreal Administration in Albino and Pigmented Rabbits

Ocular penetration of grepafloxacin into several ocular tissues was determined in albino and pigmented rabbits following a single intravitreal administration. After administration, grepafloxacin was detected in all ocular tissues studied in both breeds of rabbits. The superior mean penetration ratios were found in the chorioretina and lens of albino rabbits, and in the chorioretina, iris and lens of pigmented rabbits. A significantly greater penetration of grepafloxacin was found in the chorioretina and iris of the pigmented rabbits than in those of the albino rabbits. As a final conclusion, grepafloxacin detected in different ocular structures could attain therapeutic concentrations against a variety of ocular conditions.
Concept Design and Development of a Module for the Construction of Reversible HVDC Submarine Deep-Water Sea Electrodes

Over the last few years, many high-voltage direct-current links have been studied, commissioned, and built. Among the constraints, one of the most important is the corrosion risk for surrounding submerged/buried metallic structures. When the coastal area is rich of metallic structures, corrosion risk may be unacceptable, requiring the relocation of the electrode at a significant distance offshore. Since the seafloor at the selected location may be considerably deep, relevant issues about installation and maintenance must be addressed in the design phase. A modular electrode design, able to cope efficiently with all such requirements and minimizing the overall cost has been developed.
IT-Related Service

Information technology (IT)-related service is the strategic management of the creation and delivery of service in which information and communication technology (referred to as IT here) plays a substantial role. IT can serve as a facilitator (e.g., facilitates access to customer information and customer communication) or enabler (e.g., enables value cocreation), serves as the context (e.g., mobile phone market or e-commerce), or is itself service (e.g., social networking sites or information goods). There are three essential characteristics of IT-related service—it is information-intensive, customer-centric, and multidisciplinary. IT-related service is information-intensive. The ability to communicate (firm-to-customer, firm-to-firm, and customer-to-customer) anytime, anywhere, and to anyone, is significantly facilitated by the recent technology trends of big data, cloud computing, and mobile and networking platforms. IT-related service is customer-centric. The use of IT, both by firms and by customers, alleviates the common observation that there is a trade-off between customer satisfaction and productivity improvement for service. Customers are able to talk back to firms with their new communication power and firms are better able to cost-efficiently satisfy their customers. The study of IT-related service is thus inherently multidisciplinary involving such fields as marketing, strategic management, computer science/information systems, and operations management/organizational research. The results of the IT-service transformation are that IT blurs the distinction between goods and service; service is becoming more goods-like and goods are acquiring the characteristics of service. The Journal of Service Research special issue on IT-related service brings together all of these elements, and provides rich strategic implications for managers.
Viewpoint: On the hysteresis in the human Achilles tendon.

This viewpoint was stimulated by two observations: 1) the statistical skewness whereby numerous articles have reported tendon stiffness and Young9s modulus, but far fewer have reported tendon hysteresis; 2) in vivo human studies seem very often to report hysteresis values greater than 10%, suggesting either that there are methodological differences between human and animal studies, or that human tendons have a much poorer capacity to store and reutilize elastic energy. In this article we focus on the healthy human Achilles/gastrocnemius tendon (AT) since it has an important locomotor function and clearly a low AT hysteresis would allow elastic recoil for efficient locomotion. We discuss that both the measurement of tendon length and force and their correct synchronization can contribute to the variability of measures of tendon properties. Within the large variability the lower values are likely to be more valid, being consistent with animal studies.
The electrically conductive pili of Geobacter species are a recently evolved feature for extracellular electron transfer.

The electrically conductive pili (e-pili) of Geobactersulfurreducens have environmental and practical significance because they can facilitate electron transfer to insoluble Fe(III) oxides; to other microbial species; and through electrically conductive biofilms. E-pili conductivity has been attributed to the truncated PilA monomer, which permits tight packing of aromatic amino acids to form a conductive path along the length of e-pili. In order to better understand the evolution and distribution of e-pili in the microbial world, type IVa PilA proteins from various Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria were examined with a particular emphasis on Fe(III)-respiring bacteria. E-pilin genes are primarily restricted to a tight phylogenetic group in the order Desulfuromonadales. The downstream gene in all but one of the Desulfuromonadales that possess an e-pilin gene is a gene previously annotated as 'pilA-C' that has characteristics suggesting that it may encode an outer-membrane protein. Other genes associated with pilin function are clustered with e-pilin and 'pilA-C' genes in the Desulfuromonadales. In contrast, in the few bacteria outside the Desulfuromonadales that contain e-pilin genes, the other genes required for pilin function may have been acquired through horizontal gene transfer. Of the 95 known Fe(III)-reducing micro-organisms for which genomes are available, 80 % lack e-pilin genes, suggesting that e-pili are just one of several mechanisms involved in extracellular electron transport. These studies provide insight into where and when e-pili are likely to contribute to extracellular electron transport processes that are biogeochemically important and involved in bioenergy conversions.
Analysis of Mand Selection across Different Stimulus Conditions

We conducted a three-phase study to evaluate the use of mands and the occurrence of problem behavior for 2 children with developmental disabilities. During Phase 1, a functional analysis identified the variables maintaining problem behavior. During Phase 2, functional communication training was implemented within a concurrent schedules design. The children were reinforced for using either a novel mand (communication card) or other existing mands (vocal speech, manual signs) that were not specifically trained but were observed to be part of the children's existing repertoire. We then conducted an assessment of mands and problem behavior across different stimulus conditions (card absent, card present) within an ABAB design (Phase 3). Results showed that during Phase 2, problem behavior decreased and participants used the card more frequently than they used other existing mands. Phase 3 showed that problem behavior remained low across both stimulus conditions. When the card was absent, the children used other existing mands; when the card was present, they primarily used the card. These results suggested that the presence of a communication card may function as a discriminative stimulus for a specific topography of manding, but that training with the card did not inhibit the use of other mands when the card was absent.
Trends in mobile payments research: A literature review

Mobile payments (m-payments) are increasingly being adopted by organisations as a new way of doing business in the 21 st century. During the last few years, the use of m-payments as a new payment channel has resulted in an increase in the volume of literature dedicated to the topic. For this reason, this paper presents the findings of a review of literature aimed at identifying the key research themes and methodologies researched. In order to uncover these trends the authors reviewed the top twenty cited papers since 1999 and the twenty most recently published papers on m-payments since August 2014.
Creating Major Innovations with Customers: Insights from Small and Young Technology Firms

The marketing literature typically argues that customers cannot easily be involved with, and contribute to, the creation of major innovation (MI). This article finds otherwise. The authors use an inductive process method to study how six MIs were developed for business-to-business markets by small and young technology firms. Three of the MIs were successful, and three failed. The firms with MI success are distinguished by a nonconventional new product development process that includes five iterative and overlapping activities and up to ten different customer roles. These activities and roles are captured in a multifaceted taxonomy of customer participation. The analysis also uncovers three capabilities relevant to the development of successful MI—capabilities that are effectual rather than adaptive in nature. These findings and the propositions derived from them offer a more complete understanding of customer participation, new product development across contexts, and marketing capabilities.
Logistics flexibility and its impact on customer satisfaction

Purpose – To succeed in an uncertain environment, firms must respond to changing customer needs, and logistics flexibility is an important part of the response. This paper defines logistics flexibility, creates a framework to understand it, and shows how it relates to customer satisfaction.Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a large sample survey (n=273) from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers to develop valid and reliable instruments to measure logistics flexibility and to test the relationships among the variables using structural equation modeling.Findings – The results indicate strong, positive, and direct relationships between flexible logistics competence and capability, and between flexible logistics capability and customer satisfaction.Research limitations/implications – The dependent and independent variables were measured through a single respondent, which may introduce common‐method bias. The respondents were manufacturing executives, which provides only a single perspective.Practi.
Bone structure and fracture risk: Do they go arm in arm?

increased cortical and trabecular thickness and greater cortical density at both the distal radius and the distal tibia. (12,13) In the current study, 29 Chinese-American and 68 white postmenopausal women were evaluated. Areal bone mineral density (aBMD) at the spine, hip, and radius was measured using dualenergy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and bone microstructure at the distal radius and tibia was assessed using HR-pQCT. As expected, the Chinese-American women were shorter and weighed less than the white women. Surprisingly, however, aBMD was similar between the two groups at all skeletal sites. Postmenopausal Chinese-American women had approximately 10% smaller bone cross-sectional area but 5% to 6% higher cortical density and 16% to 18% higher cortical thickness than whites. Chinese-American women also had fewer trabeculae at the distal radius and fewer but thicker trabeculae at the distal tibia compared with whites. Differences in bone cross-sectional area were attenuated somewhat after adjusting for the shorter stature and lower weight of the Chinese-American women, whereas differences in cortical and trabecular thickness were largely unaffected. The net result of these differences in bone morphology, evaluated by finite-element analysis (FEA), showed similar compressive stiffness in the two groups, suggesting that the smaller cross-sectional area in Chinese-American women was compensated for by their increased cortical and trabecular thicknesses. The study provides novel insights into differences in bone structure by ethnicity, yet several issues should be considered when interpreting the results, including (1) the modest sample size, (2) the limitations of HR-pQCT measurements and assumptions used for derivation of some microarchitecture features, and (3) lack of information on tissue material properties. The authors examined a relatively small convenience sample of only 29 Chinese-American subjects who were, on average, 2 years younger and tended to be closer to the menopause than the white women. After adjusting the analyses for age and body mass index (BMI), the strength of some of the ethnicity-related differences was attenuated, although most of the differences
Dividend Policy, Shareholder Rights, and Corporate Governance

Grounded in agency theory, this study explores agency costs as a determinant of dividend policy. Specifically, we examine how dividends are related to the strength of shareholder rights. The evidence reveals an inverse association between dividend payouts and shareholder rights, indicating that firms pay higher dividends where shareholder rights are more suppressed. This evidence is consistent with the substitution hypothesis (La Porta et al., 2000), which contends that firms with weak shareholder rights need to establish a reputation for not exploiting shareholders. As a result, these firms pay dividends more generously than do firms with strong shareholder rights. In other words, dividends substitute for shareholder rights. Finally, there is evidence that regulation influences the association between dividends and shareholder rights.
A Self-Reactive TCR Drives the Development of Foxp3+ Regulatory T Cells That Prevent Autoimmune Disease

Although Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) are thought to express autoreactive TCRs, it is not clear how individual TCRs influence Treg development, phenotype, and function in vivo. We have generated TCR transgenic mice (termed SFZ70 mice) using Tcra and Tcrb genes cloned from an autoreactive CD4+ T cell isolated from a Treg-deficient scurfy mouse. The SFZ70 TCR recognizes a cutaneous autoantigen and drives development of both conventional CD4+ Foxp3− T cells (Tconv) and Foxp3+ Tregs. SFZ70 Tregs display an activated phenotype evidenced by robust proliferation and expression of skin-homing molecules such as CD103 and P-selectin ligand. Analysis of Foxp3-deficient SFZ70 mice demonstrates that Tregs inhibit Tconv cell expression of tissue-homing receptors and their production of proinflammatory cytokines. In addition, Treg suppression of SFZ70 Tconv cells can be overcome by nonspecific activation of APCs. These results provide new insights into the differentiation and function of tissue-specific Tregs in vivo and provide a tractable system for analyzing the molecular requirements of Treg-mediated tolerance toward a cutaneous autoantigen.
Are Industrial-Country Consumption Risks Globally Diversified?

What idiosyncratic consumption risks can countries trade away on international asset markets? This paper develops an empirical methodology for answering the question. The tests are based on the proposition that in an integrated world asset market with representative national agents, the ex post difference between two countries' intertemporal marginal rates of substitution in consumption is uncorrelated with any random variable on which contractual payoffs can be conditioned. This result is applied to annual time-series data for the seven largest industrial countries over 1950-88. Of these countries, Germany seems to have been most successful at internationally diversifying its consumption risks.
Protective effects of antioxidants on age‐related changes in the electrophoretic patterns of cardiac LDH, hepatic ALP and serum proteins in male golden hamster

Basal and antioxidant‐induced changes in the isoenzyme and isoform patterns of cardiac lactate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.27) and hepatic alkaline phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.1), respectively, as well as the electrophoretic patterns of serum proteins in different age groups of male golden hamster were compared. This is to test whether age‐induced changes could be corrected by long‐term administration of antioxidants. Data indicated that aging causes no remarkable change in the total activity of either cardiac LDH or hepatic ALP, however a significant increase in the fractional activity of some cardiac LDH isoenzymes and a significant reduction in the fractional activity of some hepatic ALP isoforms were induced by aging. On the other hand, long‐term administration of antioxidants appeared to manifest a clear counteracting effect on the age‐related changes in old age. This effect was indicated in the fractional activity of cardiac LDH isoenzymes and of hepatic ALP isoforms. The present study has also shown a wide‐range variation in serum protein patterns due to aging and/or antioxidant administration, which indirectly reflect a parallel variation in the process of gene expression and/or proteolytic activity. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Past progress and future directions in conceptualizing customer perceived value

Purpose – To propose an alternative model specification for better conceptualizing the definition of a customer perceived value construct, and to discuss the theoretical justification of the model.Design/methodology/approach – The proposed model was elaborated based on theoretical contexts. Three models of different conceptualization specifications were estimated and compared with eTail service value survey data.Findings – Based on theory, perceived value should be conceived as a formative construct. The empirical results demonstrated different parameter estimates and thus conclusions are drawn from different conceptualization methods.Research limitations/implications – Future research is suggested to apply the proposed formative value model in other marketing settings, and to explore the role of consumer satisfaction in post‐purchase behavior.Practical implications – Marketing resources allocation and communication programs may be influenced due to different conceptualization methods of value construct a.
IS SOUTH ASIAN ASSOCIATION OF REGIONAL COOPERATION AN OPTIMAL CURRENCY AREA? AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

viii List of Abbreviations and Symbols Used . ix Acknowledgements . xi Chapter
Investigating Liquidity in a Frontier Government Bond Market: The Case of Bucharest Stock Exchange

Liquidity is an important feature for any domestic bond market, being associated with a well organized market. A liquid secondary government bond market must be of interest for any frontier economy policy-makers given the important benefits. The present paper is the first to investigate the liquidity of government bond secondary market in Romania, included in the subgroup of frontier securities market. The paper use multivariate empirical analysis using the data set available at Bucharest Stock Exchange for the period August 2008, when the secondary market for government bonds was launched, and December 2013. Since this is the first paper trying to measure the liquidity of BVB government bond market segment, a high number of proxies were first selected in order to capture all the liquidity dimensions. Also five factors were identified to influence the majority of these proxies. In the end, four factors of the initial five proved to have an increased explanatory power over the liquidity proxies. Further, the number of twelve liquidity proxies should be reduced and a PCA was conducted in order to extract a smaller number. The final result indicates a number of four liquidity proxies that captured in a satisfactory manner all the liquidity dimensions. The results suggests that the Romanian Ministry of Finance should pay a special attention to these four proxies and to the idemtfied factors influencing them in order to increase the government bond segment liquidity at Bucharest Stock Exchange.
Integrated Advertising, Promotion & Marketing Communications

I. IMC FOUNDATION. 1. Integrated Marketing Communications. 2. Corporate Image and Brand Management. 3. Consumer Buyer Behavior. 4. Business-to-Business Buyer Behavior. 5. Promotion Opportunity Analysis. II. IMC ADVERTISING TOOLS. 6. Advertising Management. 7. Advertising Design: Theoretical Framework and Types of Appeals. 8. Advertising Design: Message Strategies and Executional Frameworks. 9. Advertising Media Selection. III. IMC PROMOTIONAL TOOLS. 10. Trade Promotions. 11. Consumer Promotions. 12. Personal Selling, Database Marketing, and Customer Relationship Management. 13. Public Relations, Regulations, and Sponsorships. IV. IMC INTEGRATION TOOLS. 14. Internet Marketing. 15. IMC for the Small Business Entrepreneur. 16. Evaluating an Integrated Marketing Program.
WASTE RECYCLING POLICIES UNDER EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY: TAKE-BACK MANDATE VERSUS DEPOSIT-REFUND

Take-back mandate and deposit-refund are the most two established waste recycling policies that are consistent with the extended producer responsibility (EPR) principle. In the take-back mandate, manufacturers have to achieve a mandatory recycling target set up by the authority. In the deposit-refund, manufacturers pay a waste disposal fee (or an output tax) to the authority, which then uses the fee to subsidize the recycling sector. This paper compares these two policies and finds that their relative performance in terms of recycling rate is crucially dependent on the recycling technological efficiency. The recycling rate is higher (lower) under the deposit-refund than the take-back mandate if recycling is relatively efficient (inefficient).
LMS Adaptive Filters for Noise Cancellation: A Review

This paper reviews the past and the recent research on Adaptive Filter algorithms based on adaptive noise cancellation systems. In many applications of noise cancellation, the change in signal characteristics could be quite fast which requires the utilization of adaptive algorithms that converge rapidly. Algorithms such as LMS and RLS proves to be vital in the noise cancellation are reviewed including principle and recent modifications to increase the convergence rate and reduce the computational complexity for future implementation. The purpose of this paper is not only to discuss various noise cancellation LMS algorithms but also to provide the reader with an overview of the research conducted.
Multiparadigm Perspectives on Theory Building

Traditional approaches to theory building are not entirely consistent with the assumptions of alternative research paradigms that are now assuming more prominence in organizational study. We argue for a multiparadigm approach to theory building as a means of establishing correspondence between paradigms and theory-construction efforts. Because of the implications of the multiparadigm approach, we also examine ways of bridging across blurred paradigm boundaries. In addition, we explore a metaparadigm perspective that might allow disparate approaches to theory building to be considered together. Such a perspective can produce views of organizational phenomena that not only allow scholars to recognize inherent and irreconcilable theoretical differences, but also can encourage them to adopt a more comprehensive view by accounting for those differences.
Kinetics of hydrate dissociation at a pressure of 0 . 1 MPa

Experimental data on the kinetics of propane hydrate dissociation at 0.1 MPa and different external temperatures were obtained. A two-stage mechanism of hydrate dissociation was observed visually. In the first stage hydrate dissociated into metastable water and gas. During the second stage the metastable water crystallized into ice. The release of metastable water during hydrate dissociation and its subsequent recrystallization exclude the possibility of achieving theoretical equilibrium temperatures during hydrate dissociation at 0.1 MPa ( 14°C for propane hydrates), although temporary temperature decreases (to 1 to 2°C) and transient ice formation were observed. Permafrost, Phillips, Springman & Arenson (eds) © 2003 Swets & Zeitlinger, Lisse, ISBN 90 5809 582 7