Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trash it or sell it? A strategic analysis of development and market introduction of product innovations

In this paper a quantity-setting duopoly is considered where one firm develops a new product which is horizontally differentiated from the existing product. The main question examined is which strategically important effects occur if the decision to develop the innovation and the decision to introduce the new product in the market are separated. In our multi-stage game the firm's launch decision is explicitly taken into account and we find an equilibrium where the competitor of the potential innovator strategically over-invests in process innovation. In this equilibrium the competitor over-invests in order to push the potential innovator to introduce the new product since this reduces the competition for the existing product. It is shown that this effect has positive welfare implications in comparison with the case where the innovator commits ex ante to launching the new product.
Enzymatic and Non Enzymatic Antioxidant Activity of Tabernaemontana divaricate R.Br. Against DEN and Fe-NTA Induced Renal Damage in Wistar Albino Rats -

Objective: Plant derived drugs have been a part of the evolution of human healthcare for thousands of years. The present study was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant potential of ethanolic extract of Tabernaemontana divaricata on DEN initiated and Fe-NTA promoted renal damage in rats. Methods: Fe-NTA was induced after 10 days of DEN (200mg/kg body weight) initiation at a dose level of 9mg Fe-NTA/kg body weight twice a week for one month. The biochemical parameters were analyzed in serum and the antioxidant assays were carried out in kidney. Results: Lipid peroxidation level was increased due to the administration of Fe-NTA, which caused the reduction of enzymatic antioxidant such as SOD, GPx, Catalase, G6PD, and also the non-enzymatic antioxidants vitamin C and GSH. The levels of urea, uric acid, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen were increased and protein level decreased on Fe-NTA intoxication. The secondary metabolites present in the plant increased the synthesis of antioxidant enzymes and its free radical scavenging properties helped to scavenge all free radicals thereby decreasing lipid peroxidation. Conclusion: Thus, the present study indicates that the plant may clinically valuable agent in the prevention of renal failure caused by DEN and Fe-NTA intoxication.
Cellular / Molecular Kv 1 K Channels Control Purkinje Cell Output to Facilitate Postsynaptic Rebound Discharge in Deep Cerebellar Neurons

Purkinje cells (PCs) generate the sole output of the cerebellar cortex and govern the timing of action potential discharge from neurons of the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN). Here, we examine how voltage-gated Kv1 K channels shape intrinsically generated and synaptically controlled behaviors of PCs and address how the timing of DCN neuron output is modulated by manipulating PC Kv1 channels. Kv1 channels were studied in cerebellar slices at physiological temperatures with Kv1-specific toxins. Outside-out voltage-clamp recordings indicated that Kv1 channels are present in both somatic and dendritic membranes and are activated by Na spike-clamp commands. Whole-cell current-clamp recordings revealed that Kv1 K channels maintain low frequencies of Na spike and Ca-Na burst output, regulate the duration of plateau potentials, and set the threshold for Ca 2 spike discharge. Kv1 channels shaped the characteristics of climbing fiber (CF) responses evoked by extracellular stimulation or intracellular simulated EPSCs. In the presence of Kv1 toxins, CFs discharged spontaneously at 1 Hz. Finally, “Kv1-intact” and “Kv1-deficient” PC tonic and burst outputs were converted to stimulus protocols and used as patterns to stimulate PC axons and synaptically activate DCN neurons. We found that the Kv1-intact patterns facilitated short-latency and high-frequency DCN neuron rebound discharges, whereas DCN neuron output timing was markedly disrupted by the Kv1-deficient stimulus protocols. Our results suggest that Kv1 K channels are critical for regulating the excitability of PCs and CFs and optimize the timing of PC outputs to generate appropriate discharge patterns in postsynaptic DCN neurons.
Adakites from continental collision zones: Melting of thickened lower crust beneath southern Tibet

Adakites are geochemically distinct intermediate to felsic lavas found exclusively in subduction zones. Here we report the first example of such magmas from southern Tibet in an active continental collision environment. The Tibetan adakites were emplaced from ca. 26 to 10 Ma, and their overall geochemical characteristics suggest an origin by melting of eclogites and/or garnet amphibolites in the lower part (≥50 km) of thickened Tibetan crust. This lower-crustal melting required a significantly elevated geotherm, which we attribute to removal of the tectonically thickened lithospheric mantle in late Oligocene time. The identification of collision-type adakites from southern Tibet lends new constraints to not only the Himalayan-Tibetan orogenesis—how and when the Indian lithosphere started underthrusting Asia can be depicted—but also the growth of the early continental crust on Earth that consists dominantly of the tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite suites marked by adakitic geochemical affinities.
Functional and morphological alteration in deoxinivalenol ( DON ) induced liver and kidney injuries

The aim of the study was to assess the influence of known concentration of deoxinivalenol (DON), naturally produced by fungi, on the blood component and histological structure in liver and kidney. Acting in small amounts they can be toxic to humans and animals. Forty male rats of the Sprague-Dowley breed were divided in 4 groups who received through feed doses of 3 mg DON/kg BW (B, n=10), 5 mg DON/kg BW (C, n=10), 9 mg DON/kg BW (D, n=10) and none DON (A-control group, n=10). The main components of blood as a alanine aminotransferase (ALT), glucose (GLU), serum creatinine (C), serum urea (U) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were significantly higher (P≤0.05) and serum albumin (ALB) respectively total serum protein (TP) were significantly lower (P≤0.05) for in experimental groups compared to control group. Complexity of pathological changes in liver and kidney increased with increasing dose DON administered in feed. In the liver tissues were highlighted with the following pathological changes: hyperemia and swelling of hepatic sinusoids, hepatocyte large globular with rich intense eosinophilic cytoplasm, enlarged nuclei with evident nucleolus and hyperchromasia variable light space portal fibrosis with rare inflammatory cells and swelling of blood vessels and accumulation of apoptotic bodies. In renal tissue the pathological changes were represented by degenerative lesions of the renal tubular epithelium and glomerulus level.
Cholera Toxin and Heat Labile Toxin Chapter 2 : Cholera Toxin or Escherichia coli Heat Labile Toxin Subunit B and Mouse Peanut Allergy

Chapter 1: Literature Review I. Allergic Responses II. Animal Allergy Models III. Cholera Toxin and Heat Labile Toxin Chapter 2: Cholera Toxin or Escherichia coli Heat Labile Toxin Subunit B and Mouse Peanut Allergy Model I. Abstract I
Performing music with delayed auditory feedback

This paper presents a study where the effect of a delayed acoustic feedback is researched with 10 professional musicians performing four different pieces of piano music. The influence of a delayed auditory feedback on the performance is quantified using both MIDI information and the measurement of the movement of the upper body of the pianists. Four conditions were examined namely: a normal piano performance, a performance without acoustic feedback and two conditions with a delayed acoustic feedback of 300ms and 200ms
Disturbance-Mediated Effects of Fishes on Stream Ecosystem Processes: Concepts and Results from Highly Variable Prairie Streams

Stream fishes can have strong top-down and bottom-up effects on ecosystem processes. However, the dynamic nature of streams constrains our abil - ity to generalize these effects across systems with different disturbance regimes and species composition. To evaluate the role of fishes following disturbance, we used a series of field and mesocosm experiments that quantified the influence of grazers and water column minnows on primary productivity, periphyton structure, organic matter pools, and invertebrate communities following either scouring floods or drying of prairie streams. Results from individual experiments revealed highly sig - nificant effects of fishes, but the direction or magnitude of effects varied among ex - periments. Meta-analyses across experiments indicated that grazers consistently re- duced the relative amount of fine benthic organic matter (FBOM) and chironomid abundance within 2 weeks after disturbances. However, effect sizes (log response ratios) were heterogeneous across experiments for algal biomass and algal filament lengths measured more than 4 weeks after a disturbance and potentially associated with system productivity and grazer densities. A similar analysis of 3-4 experi - ments using water column minnows only found a consistent trend of decreasing FBOM in fish treatments relative to controls when measured less than 2 weeks after
Water sorption on a thin film of stereocontrolled poly(N-ethylacrylamide) and poly(N,N-diethylacrylamide)

The tacticity effects on the water-vapor sorption of the thin films of poly( N -ethylacrylamide) (PNEAm) and poly( N,N -diethylacrylamide) (PNdEAm) are investigated by the quartz crystal microbalance method and infrared spectroscopy. The quantity of sorbed water on the spin-coated films of isotactic-rich PNEAm is larger than that of atactic one. For PNdEAm, the syndiotactic-rich polymer film absorbs more water. The amide I or C=O stretching band of the polymers are monitored during water sorption on the spin-coated films. The result indicates that the water-sorption site is also influenced by the tacticity of the polymers. The annealing of these films wipes out the tacticity dependence of water sorption, indicating that the water-sorption sites in the spin-coated films are voids around C=O groups that are made by evaporation of solvent during spin-coating (so-called, the “solvent-imprint” effect). The isotactic-rich PNEAm is more influenced by the solvent-imprint effect than the syndiotactic-rich one, while an opposite tendency is found for PNdEAm.
Severe Respiratory Suppression Secondary to Buprenorphine Treated with Volume Assured Pressure Support (VAPS)

The optimal therapy of chronic opioid induced sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is unclear. Supplemental oxygen may potentially prolong central apneas and increase respiratory suppression. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is generally ineffective or may even augment central apneas. Therapy with an Adaptive Servo-Ventilation (ASV) device is the most successful option for most etiologies of central apnea including opioids, but we have observed a subpopulation with OISDB that do not respond well. We evaluated a 31 year-old female by means of serial attended polysomnography who was admitted for opioid detoxification and who developed severe respiratory suppression following induction therapy with buprenorphine/naloxone. Opioid induced SDB was manifest by bradypnea, ataxic breathing, central apnea (apnea/ hypopnea index or AHI 107/hr) and hypoxemia (SpO2 74%). Supplemental oxygen corrected hypoxemia but severe central apnea and bradypnea persisted. ASV was ineffective despite high pressure settings (AHI 122/hr). Ventilation was normalized (AHI 1/ hr) and hypoxemia was corrected (SpO 2 92%) with volume assured pressure support (VAPS) without supplemental oxygen The efficacy of ASV in idiopathic central apneas or Cheyne-Stokes respiration may relate to specific pathogenic factors such as high loop gain with low apneic threshold or phase delay related to cardiac disease but with a fundamentally intact respiratory pattern generator. In patients with opioid induced SDB, the pattern generator appears dysfunctional. In these cases, VAPS in which maintenance of alveolar ventilation is the primary goal may be superior to ASV in which prevention of hyperventilation overshoot and hypocapnia are the objectives. Attended polysomnography is necessary in order to reliably validate the efficacy of therapy.
F inite Element Modeling of Vasoreactivity Using COMSOL Multiphysics ®

Localized calcium events in the endothelial cells (EC) can modulate smooth muscle cell (SMC) calcium (Ca2+) and membrane potential dynamics through release of endothelium derived hyperpolarizing and relaxing factors. Ca2+ levels in the smooth muscle cell (SMC) determine its contractile state. The underlying complex mechanism regulating the SMC Ca2+ levels and ultimately vessel tone remains poorly understood. We developed coupled EC-SMC continuum models to describe function at macro-scale level by integrating mechanisms at the subcellular/ molecular level. Cellular models were coupled through diffusion of ions and second messengers. The models allows introduction of spatial distribution of cellular components and micro domains. The model will provide quantification and better understanding of localized events in the EC and its modulation of the vessel tone.
Cannabinoids Involvement in Neurodegenerative Diseases

cloned and characterized from mammalian tissues, the seven transmembrane G protein-coupled cannabinoid receptors type 1 (CB1 receptor), [5] and type 2 (CB2 receptor) [6]. Whereas the CB1 receptor expression is abundant in the central nervous system, the CB2 receptor is almost exclusively expressed in the immune system. The CB1 receptor is also expressed in peripheral nerve terminals and various extraneuronal sites such as the testis, uterus, eye, vascular endothelial, spleen and adipocytes [7-10]. Pharmacological evidence exists for the presence of other cannabinoid receptors, which, however, have not yet been cloned [11]. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants for mental and motor dysfuction in neurodegenerative diseases. The neuroprotective properties of cannabinoids suggest their therapeutic use for limiting neurological damage. The cannabinoids treatments should not only aim to alleviate specific symptoms but also attempt to delay/arrest disease progression and to repair the damaged structures. The author conducted a review of studies published between 1974 and 2011. The search was performed using the following PubMed search terms: “Cannabinoids” and “Neurodegenerative Diseases” and 287 papers were detected. The articles were examined, and the overlapping or insufficiently clear works were excluded. Finally, we chose 117 articles regarding the latest international guidelines, the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases and the various therapeutic choices. The studies reported in the present review support the view that the cannabinoid signalling system is a key modulatory element in the activity of the basal ganglia. This idea is supported by different anatomical, electrophysiological, pharmacological and biochemical data. Furthermore, these studies indicate that the cannabinoid system is impaired in different neurological disorders that directly or indirectly affect the basal ganglia, which supports the idea of developing novel pharmacotherapies with compounds that selectively target specific elements of the cannabinoid system. Abstract
Students' Perceptions of the Operating Room as a Clinical learning Environment

Students undertake their clinical placement in various clinical settings to ensure their exposure to and acquisition of skills related to that particular context. The operating room is a context that offers the opportunity to develop critical skills related to the perioperative care of the patient. Despite the numerous studies that have been undertaken in this field, few have investigated the operating room as a clinical learning environment in the South African private healthcare context. The aim of this study was to determine students’ perceptions of the operating room as a clinical learning environment in this context. An exploratory, interpretive and descriptive design generating qualitative data was utilized. Data was collected from nursing students undertaking their training at a private nursing education institution. Ten nursing students completed an open-ended questionnaire (N=10), and twelve students participated in the focus group discussion (N=12). Four themes emerged, namely, ‘interpersonal factors’, ‘educational factors’, ‘private operating room context’, and ‘recommendations’. This study has highlighted some of the challenges experienced by students in the private sector operating room context. Despite the potential learning opportunities, the key findings reveal negative perceptions of students regarding learning experiences. However, the opinion that the operating room offers an opportunity to gain skills unique to this context, as well as facilitates the integration of theory and practice, was also expressed. Some students reported that the emphasis on profitability and cost to patient, and the lack of a mentoring process in the private operating room context posed a constraint to learning. Exploration into the specific preparatory needs of students specific to learning outcomes before operating room placement should be considered. It would also be necessary to improve collaboration between lecturers, mentors and theatre managers so that a structured teaching programme may be developed for students entering the perioperative environment. ___________________________________________________________________
Kaleckian investment and employment cycles in post-war industrialized economies

The role of the welfare state in the post-war industrialized economies has recently become a major topic. Using a Kaleckian framework we consider an economy where investment depends positively on the rate of return on capital and negatively on the rate of employment. This allows for a possible integration of Kalecki’s (1943) analysis of the political aspects of full employment. We use Okun’s law to link the goods market with the labor market. We separate laws of motion for wage and price inflation in order to integrate the role of changing income distribution into this framework of effective demand and employment dynamics. There is a balanced growth path solution for this model which however is likely to be locally unstable. From the global perspective, the turning points in long lasting phases of strong economic growth are given by an increasing reaction of investment, and of fiscal and monetary policy, to the consequences resulting from full employment and the evolving welfare state (represented by generous welfare payments, labor market institutions in favor of labor, and co-determination). In subsequent long-phased depressions profit-led goods demand in combination with declining real wages (enforced by mass unemployment and labor market reforms) may account for lower turning points and for a return to normal and subsequently possibly again excessive economic activity. Such nonlinearities in economic behavior far off the balanced growth path imply the global viability of the economic dynamics. On the other hand, in contrast to such a conflict-driven macro economy, as Kalecki (1943) has perceived it, the business leaders and policy makers could pursue a consensus-driven macro economic dynamics stressing a more collaborative and long term approach which will, as we show, take on a more stable path. Pursuing those two social aspects of macro dynamics the paper lays some foundations for an economic analysis of the role of the welfare state in post-war
Real-Financial Interaction: Integrating Supply Side Wage-Price Dynamics and the Stock Market

The paper put forward a macrodynamic model of the real-financial interaction. Regarding the financial sector it focuses on the stock market dynamics, for real sector it details goods market disequilibrium and two Phillips curves for prices as well as wages. The central link between the two sectors is constituted by Tobin's (average) q. After highlighting the main feedback mechanisms in the real and financial subdynamics, the long-run equilibrium of the integrated 7th-order dynamic system is shown to be locally stable if certain adjustments are sufficiently sluggish, while large values of some reaction parameters can destabilize the economy. Lastly, the analysis reveals the potential for cyclical motion.
UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL ENDOSCOPIC FINDINGS AND HELICOBACTER PYLORI STATUS IN DIABETIC OUTPATIENTS WITH DYSPEPSIA AT KENYATTA NATIONAL HOSPITAL

OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori and the associated upper gastrointestinal findings in diabetic outpatients with dyspepsia. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study in which diabetes mellitus outpatients aged 18 years and above were screened for dyspepsia. Demographic information (age, sex, residential area and employment status), and clinical information (type and duration of diabetes, weight, height, blood pressure, mode of glycemic control) was obtained from those who had dyspepsia and consented to an upper GIT endoscopy. HbAlc was determined and upper GIT endoscopy was performed. H. pylori was detected by the urease test and Cold ZN-stain while HE-stain was used for histological evaluation of the gastric biopsy specimens. RESULTS Of the 257 diabetics screened, 137 (53.3%) had dyspepsia. 71 of the dyspeptic diabetics underwent an upper GIT endoscopy, out of whom, 55 (77.5%) had H. pylori infection. The prevalence of H. pylori increased with HbAlc level but there was no statistically significant association with poor glycemic control (HbAlc >7.0%). Of the 71 patients, 48 (67.6%) had gastritis, 17 (25.7%) had duodenitis, 8 (11.3%) had oesophageal candidiasis, 7 (9.9%) had bile reflux and 6 (8.5%) had reflux oesophagitis. Six (8.4%) had ulcers (5 duonenal, 1 gastric) and 1 (1.4%) had gastric cancer. Endoscopically normal mucosa was found in 14 (19%) patients. The prevalence of H. pylori was 82.3% (32/38) and 82.4% (14/17) in patients with antral gastritis and duodenitis respectively. All ulcers and the cancer lesion (adenocarcinoma) were associated with H. pylori. Histological gastritis was found in 57 (81.8%) and was significantly associated with H. pylori. CONCLUSION Dyspeptic diabetics have upper GIT endoscopic findings and H. pylori prevalence which are comparable to those of non-diabetic dyspeptic historical controls.