Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Research on Culture and International Acquisition Performance: A Critical Evaluation and New Directions

Abstract This article critically reviews and synthesizes the current state of the literature on culture and international acquisition performance, and sketches out new directions for research that are promising to advance knowledge in the field. The literature on acquisition performance is categorized and discussed along three streams of research: the contingency literature, process-oriented research, and the cultural stream. Particular emphasis is placed in the latter stream to take account of the vast amount of work on this topic. In so doing, this article relates the cultural stream to both the contingency literature and process-related research to gain a more inclusive understanding of culture’s consequences for international acquisition performance. The article concludes by offering a research agenda to stimulate new insights and novel work on the variables that determine the success of international acquisitions.
Measurements and modelling of millimeter-wave channel at 28 GHz in the indoor complex environment for 5G radio systems

This paper presents an experimental characterization of millimeter wave (mmWave) wireless channel at 28 GHz for fifth generation (5G) millimeter wave wireless communication systems. The propagation characteristics of mmWave signal in the complex indoor radio channels are discussed based on the extensive measurement and based on the method of shooting and bouncing ray tracing/image (SBR/IM). Received power, omnidirectional path loss models, and root-mean-square (RMS) delay spreads statistics are analyzed. A good agreement is achieved between measured results and simulated results, so a method for synthesizing the omnidirectional antenna pattern and resulting omnidirectional received power from empirical data using directional horn antenna by summing the received powers from each angle combination has been validated. The cumulative distribution function (CDF) of received power can be described by the log-normal distribution. Moreover, the path loss exponent (PLE) values vary between 1.67 and 1.77. The Gaussian distribution models best fit the RMS delay spreads at 28 GHz.
Critical Analysis of Dimension Reduction by a Moment Closure Method in a Population Density Approach to Neural Network Modeling

Computational techniques within the population density function (PDF) framework have provided time-saving alternatives to classical Monte Carlo simulations of neural network activity. Efficiency of the PDF method is lost as the underlying neuron model is made more realistic and the number of state variables increases. In a detailed theoretical and computational study, we elucidate strengths and weaknesses of dimension reduction by a particular moment closure method (Cai, Tao, Shelley, & McLaughlin, 2004; Cai, Tao, Rangan, & McLaughlin, 2006) as applied to integrate-and-fire neurons that receive excitatory synaptic input only. When the unitary postsynaptic conductance event has a single-exponential time course, the evolution equation for the PDF is a partial differential integral equation in two state variables, voltage and excitatory conductance. In the moment closure method, one approximates the conditional kth centered moment of excitatory conductance given voltage by the corresponding unconditioned moment. The result is a system of k coupled partial differential equations with one state variable, voltage, and k coupled ordinary differential equations. Moment closure at k = 2 works well, and at k = 3 works even better, in the regime of high dynamically varying synaptic input rates. Both closures break down at lower synaptic input rates. Phase-plane analysis of the k = 2 problem with typical parameters proves, and reveals why, no steady-state solutions exist below a synaptic input rate that gives a firing rate of 59 s1 in the full 2D problem. Closure at k = 3 fails for similar reasons. Low firing-rate solutions can be obtained only with parameters for the amplitude or kinetics (or both) of the unitary postsynaptic conductance event that are on the edge of the physiological range. We conclude that this dimension-reduction method gives ill-posed problems for a wide range of physiological parameters, and we suggest future directions.
TCR-Redirected Human T Cells Inhibit Hepatitis C Virus Replication: Hepatotoxic Potential Is Linked to Antigen Specificity and Functional Avidity

Virus-specific CTL with high levels of functional avidity have been associated with viral clearance in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and with enhanced protective immunity. In chronic HCV infection, lack of antiviral CTL is frequently observed. In this study, we aim to investigate novel HCV TCRs that differ in Ag specificity. This involved isolating new HCV-specific murine TCRs that recognize a conserved HLA-A2–restricted CTL epitope within the nonstructural protein (NS) 5A viral protein and comparing them with TCRs recognizing another conserved CTL target in the NS3 viral protein. This was done by expressing the TCRs in human T cells and analyzing the function of the resulting TCR-transduced T cells. Our result indicates that these TCRs are efficiently assembled in transduced human T cells. They recognize peptide-loaded targets and demonstrate polyfunctional features such as IL-2, IFN-γ, and TNF-α secretion. However, in contrast to NS3-specific TCRs, the NS5A TCR-transduced T cells consist of a smaller proportion of polyfunctional T cells and require more peptide ligands to trigger the effector functions, including degranulation. Despite the differences, NS5A TCRs show effective inhibition of HCV replication in human hepatoma cells with persistent HCV RNA replication. Moreover, cellular injury demonstrated by aspartate aminotransferase release and cell death is less significant in the hepatoma cells following coincubation with NS5A TCR-transduced T cells, which is a property consistent with noncytotoxic antiviral CTLs. Our results suggest that HCV TCR-transduced T cells may be promising for the treatment of patients with chronic HCV infections.
Factors Contributing to the Success of First-Generation College Students at a Research University.

First-generation college students are students whose parents do not have a college degree, and they face numerous barriers in college. Yet, several first-generation college students (FGCS) are successful and are on-track to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in four years. Their success is important because education is associated with increased income, quality of life, and social mobility, making educational attainment even more significant in Arkansas, which has both low educational attainment and high poverty. Little is known about what can be done to close the achievement gap. It is important to analyze what helped FGCS succeed so that higher education administrators, faculty, and staff can help other FGCS succeed. The study used explanatory sequential mixed methodology to analyze the factors firstgeneration college students identified as contributing toward being on-track to graduate in four years. Data for the study were collected at the University of Arkansas, an Arkansas land-grant institution. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s chi-square of independence test were used to analyze first-generation students. Focus groups of FGCS were conducted to understand the factors that contributed to being on-track and strategies for success. The study’s results indicated that ethnicity and changing the major college of degree program are not related to being on-track to graduate, but other demographic factors like age, residency, and ACT score are significant. FGCS faced multiple barriers like unpreparedness, financial obligations, and relating to their family members, but they were motivated to succeed by many factors, primarily believing that a college degree was necessary for a better life. They used a few strategies to succeed, such as active involvement in planning their course of study to maximize efficiency. Recommendations for both future research and future practice were made to help first-generation college students
Dorsal striatopallidal system in anurans

The dorsal striatopallidal system of tetrapods consists of the dorsal striatum (caudate‐putamen in mammals) and the dorsal pallidum. Although the existence of striatal and pallidal structures has been well documented in anuran amphibians, the exact boundaries of these structures have so far been a matter of debate. To delineate precisely the dorsal striatopallidal system of anurans, we used quantitative analysis of leucine‐enkephalin immunohistochemistry (in Bombina orientalis, Discoglossus pictus, Xenopus laevis, and Hyla versicolor), retrograde neurobiotin tracing studies (injections in the central and ventromedial thalamic nuclei in H. versicolor), and double‐labeling tracing studies (injections in the lateral forebrain bundle and the caudal striatum in B. orientalis). Immunohistochemistry revealed that enkephalin‐positive neurons are located mainly in the rostral and intermediate striatum. Neurobiotin tracing studies demonstrated that neurons projecting to the central and ventromedial thalamic nuclei are found in the intermediate and caudal striatum. Double‐labeling studies revealed that the population of neurons in the rostral and intermediate striatum innervating the caudal striatum is separated from neurons projecting into the lateral forebrain bundle. Neurons that project to both the caudal striatum and the lateral forebrain bundle are found only in the dorsal part of the intermediate striatum. Taken together, our results suggest that the rostral striatum of anurans is homologous to the striatum proper of mammals, whereas the caudal striatum is comparable to the dorsal pallidum. The intermediate striatum represents a transition area between the two structures. J. Comp. Neurol. 468:299–310, 2004. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells suppressing activation of allogeneic cytokine‐induced killer/natural killer cells either by direct or indirect interaction

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) were recently found to be associated with some special immunological characteristics, the immunoregulatory effect of MSC was dose‐dependent. Low amount of MSC was associated with mild immunosuppression or even immune activation, while the high amount of that was associated with significant immunosuppressive effect. In this study, by using a transwell system, we explored the effect of MSC on the cell cycle, apoptosis rate and the expression of CD69, an activation marker, on the allogeneic cord blood derived cytokine‐induced killer(CIK)/natural killer(NK) cells. The results showed that either by transwell or mixed cell‐cell co‐culture, the MSC can effect CIK/NK cells on the cell cycle, such as arrested in the G0/G1 phase, diminished the ratio of cells in S, G2/M phase, and increased the apoptosis of them. MSC can also depress the expression of CD69 on these killer cells, as well as increased the ratio of CD4+CD25+CD127low T regulatory (Treg) cells in the CIK/NK cell culture system. We draw conclusions that either by transwell or mixed co‐culture, the MSC can suppress activation of allogeneic CB‐CIK/NK cells in a dose‐dependent manner.
The impact of interventions by pharmacists in community pharmacies on control of hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

AIMS To undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials concerned with the impact of community pharmacist-led interventions on blood pressure control in patients with hypertension. METHODS Eight electronic databases were searched up to 30 November 2013, with no start date (Web of Science, Embase, The Cochrane Library, Medline Ovid, Biomed Central, Biosis Citation Index, CINAHL, PsycINFO). All studies included were randomized controlled trials involving patients with hypertension, with or without cardiovascular-related co-morbidities, with difference in blood pressure as an outcome. Data collected included the study design, baseline characteristics of study populations, types of interventions and outcomes. The Cochrane tool was used to assess risk of bias. RESULTS From 340 articles identified on initial searching, 16 randomized controlled trials (3032 patients) were included. Pharmacist-led interventions were patient education on hypertension, management of prescribing and safety problems associated with medication, and advice on lifestyle. These interventions were associated with significant reductions in systolic [11 studies (2240 patients); -6.1 mmHg (95% confidence interval, -3.8 to -8.4 mmHg); P < 0.00001] and diastolic blood pressure [11 studies (2246 patients); -2.5 mmHg (95% confidence interval, -1.5 to -3.4 mmHg); P < 0.00001]. CONCLUSIONS Community pharmacist-led interventions can significantly reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure. These interventions could be useful for improving clinical management of hypertension.
Comparison of IT Neural Response Statistics with Simulations

Lehky et al. (2011) provided a statistical analysis on the responses of the recorded 674 neurons to 806 image stimuli in anterior inferotemporalm (AIT) cortex of two monkeys. In terms of kurtosis and Pareto tail index, they observed that the population sparseness of both unnormalized and normalized responses is always larger than their single-neuron selectivity, hence concluded that the critical features for individual neurons in primate AIT cortex are not very complex, but there is an indefinitely large number of them. In this work, we explore an “inverse problem” by simulation, that is, by simulating each neuron indeed only responds to a very limited number of stimuli among a very large number of neurons and stimuli, to assess whether the population sparseness is always larger than the single-neuron selectivity. Our simulation results show that the population sparseness exceeds the single-neuron selectivity in most cases even if the number of neurons and stimuli are much larger than several hundreds, which confirms the observations in Lehky et al. (2011). In addition, we found that the variances of the computed kurtosis and Pareto tail index are quite large in some cases, which reveals some limitations of these two criteria when used for neuron response evaluation.
A Convex Optimization Design of Relay Precoder for Two-Hop Mimo Relay Networks

This paper presents an optimal relay precoding scheme for two-hop amplify-and-forward based MIMO relay networks with one source, one destination and multiple relays. A constrained optimization problem for relay precoder is formulated by using the mutual information criterion along with a total relay transmitting power constraint. It is shown that due to the block-diagonal structure of the precoding matrix, the optimization problem can not be solved directly by the existing methods. We then simplify it into an equivalent problem involving scalar optimization variables only. Through an in-depth study of the problem formulation, it is revealed that the objective function is convex only when the relay power is larger than a certain threshold, which can be determined mainly by the system configurations and the channel condition. Finally, under the convex condition, the simplified problem is solved by a convex optimization method. The effectiveness of the proposed precoder is validated by Monte-Carlo simulations with comparison to some of the existing methods.
Phonemic Awareness and Reading Ability: An Investigation With Young Readers Who Are Deaf

The study examined the relationship between phonemic awareness and reading ability in students who are deaf. The research questions were: (a) What is the relationship between phonemic awareness and reading ability in students who are deaf? (b) Does phonemic awareness facilitate the reading development of these students? Participants were 29 children of primary school age enrolled in a residential school for students who are deaf. The dependent variable, reading ability, was measured by a retelling task. The independent variables were age, language ability, and phonemic awareness. Language ability was determined through expert analysis of participant interviews. Phonemic awareness was measured with a word-to-word matching task. Descriptive techniques and multiple regression analysis were employed to analyze the data. Results indicated that reading ability was significantly correlated to language ability, but not to phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness did not contribute to any of the variance in reading ability. The study results call into question the role of phonemic awareness as a prerequisite for reading development.
Lack Of Impairment Of Nitric Oxide‐Mediated Responses In A Rat Model Of High‐Renin Hypertension

1. Angiotensin (Ang) II triggers the expression of a pro‐ oxidant phenotype in the vascular wall, suggesting that activation of the renin–angiotensin system (RAS) causes endothelial dysfunction in various pathological situations, such as hypertension. However, this hypothesis has been mostly tested in a setting of exogenous administration of AngII.
Plasma lactate accumulation and distance running performance. 1979.

Laboratory and field assessments were made on eighteen male distance runners. Performance data were obtained for distances of 3.2, 9.7, 15, 19.3 km (n = 18) and the marathon (n = 13). Muscle fiber composition expressed as percent of slow twitch fibers (%ST), maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max), running economy (VO2 for a treadmill velocity of 268 m/min), and the VO2 and treadmill velocity corresponding to the onset of plasma lactate accumulation (OPLA) were determined for each subject. %ST (R > or equal to .47), VO2max (r > or equal to .83), running economy (r > or equal to .49), VO2 in ml/kg min corresponding to the OPLA (r > or equal to .91) and the treadmill velocity corresponding to OPLA (r > or equal to .91) were significantly (p < .05) related to performance at all distances. Multiple regression analysis showed that the treadmill velocity corresponding to the OPLA was most closely related to performance and the addition of other factors did not significantly raise the multiple R values suggesting that these other variables may interact with the purpose of keeping plasma lactates low during distance races. The slowest and fastest marathoners ran their marathons 7 and 3 m/min faster than their treadmill velocities corresponding to their OPLA which indicates that this relationship is independent of the competitive level of the runner. Runners appear to set a race pace which allows the utilization of the largest possible VO2 which just avoids the exponential rise in plasma lactate.
Critical Pedagogy in Classroom Discourse

Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl. edu/teachlearnfacpub Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Disability and Equity in Education Commons, Other Education Commons, Other Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons, and the Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education Commons
Theoretical framework for spectrum analysis in ultrasonic tissue characterization.

An analytic model is described for application in ultrasonic tissue characterization. The model is applicable to clinical broadband pulse echo systems. It treats spectra derived from received echo signals and relates them to physical tissue properties. The model can be applied to deterministic tissue structures (e.g., retinal detachments, larger blood vessels, and surface layers of the kidney) and to stochastic tissue structures (e.g., various tumors). The beam patterns included in the model are those generated by focused transducers typically used in high-resolution clinical ultrasound. Appropriate calibration procedures are also treated; these are needed for interpretation of absolute spectral parameters. The results obtained with the analytic model have been used to design a digital processing system and the associated techniques which are now being applied during examinations of the eye and abdominal organs. The results have proven useful in interpreting data from various types of tissues. To illustrate the application of these results, representative clinical data, obtained from the digital system, are presented for two types of tissue architectures. The first case is a detached retina representing a deterministic structure characterized by well-defined thickness and reflection coefficients. The second case is asteroid hyalosis and represents a stochastic entity in which the positions of small scattering particles are best described in statistical terms, and characterization is accompanied by means of normalized power spectra.
Mediators and Moderators of Change in Adjustment Following Intervention for Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence

Children aged 6 to 12 who were exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) within the last year participated in an intervention program found to be successful in reducing their internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. However, little is known about factors that may contribute to this efficacy. Both fixed and modifiable risk factors that predicted change in children’s adjustment after the intervention were identified and tested. There was a significant relationship between the extent of exposure to IPV, gender, change in mothers’ mental health, and change in child adjustment. Among fixed factors, length of exposure to violence was found to moderate the relationship between the amount of the child’s and mother’s participation in the intervention and change in child adjustment, specifically internalizing behavioral problems. Among the modifiable risk factors, change in mother’s mental health, specifically symptoms of posttraumatic stress, was found to mediate the relationship between the amount of intervention participation and change in child adjustment. These findings can be used to inform and enhance evidence-based clinical services for children exposed to IPV.
Open membranes are the precursors for assembly of large DNA viruses

Nucleo cytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs) are a group of double‐stranded DNA viruses that replicate their DNA partly or entirely in the cytoplasm in association with viral factories (VFs). They share about 50 genes suggesting that they are derived from a common ancestor. Using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron tomography (ET) we showed that the NCLDV vaccinia virus (VACV) acquires its membrane from open membrane intermediates, derived from the ER. These open membranes contribute to the formation of a single open membrane of the immature virion, shaped into a sphere by the assembly of the viral scaffold protein on its convex side. We now compare VACV with the NCLDV Mimivirus by TEM and ET and show that the latter also acquires its membrane from open membrane intermediates that accumulate at the periphery of the cytoplasmic VF. In analogy to VACV this membrane is shaped by the assembly of a layer on the convexside of its membrane, likely representing the Mimivirus capsid protein. By quantitative ET we show for both viruses that the open membrane intermediates of assembly adopt an ‘open‐eight’ conformation with a characteristic diameter of 90 nm for Mimi‐ and 50 nm for VACV. We discuss these results with respect to the common ancestry of NCLDVs and propose a hypothesis on the possible origin of this unusual membrane biogenesis.