Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Case Study to Evaluate the Productivity Changes of the Thermal Power Plants of the Taiwan Power Company

This paper developed an approach based on data envelopment analysis and Malmquist productivity index to investigate the performance of power plants and conducted an empirical study with eight thermal power plants in Taiwan. The analysis results show the productivity improvements, and thus, help Taiwan Power Company to monitor and diagnose changes in the productivity of its thermal power plants. Furthermore, this study also provides specific directions for improvements to increase competitiveness in the face of the continuing liberalization of the Taiwanese power generation market.
Analysis of Human Resource Accounting Method on Civil Servants’ Motivation in the Department of Tourism, Kenya

It is highly complicated in today’s corporate world to find well knowledgeable, coached, and highly motivated human capital. Human capital is one of the most important back office operations of any organization or business. Their skills, creativity, human ability cannot be replaced by machines. We can lose efficiency in work if no qualitative people. At all levels and areas of the business or firm human efficiency is required with machine efficiency. Human can work without machine but machine can’t. Hence, industry like advertising and direct marketing for instance human talent is more valuable among other else. No machine can ever come up with a unique advertising idea without the human input. Thus companies must learn to recognize and appreciate the value of their employees. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of Human Resource Accounting system on employee motivation. Organizations with best systems of performance appraisal usually show higher growth, higher return per employee, less attrition rate and stable platform for new challenges. The purpose of this study will be to assess the influence of the performance appraisal techniques on civil servants’ motivation in the department of Tourism in Kenya. The study specifically; established the effect of human resource accounting method on civil servants motivation. The study will benefit the, academicians, policymakers and community members. The study was guided by the Expectancy Theory. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design with a target population of 174 staffs of Job Group H and above. A sample size of 123 persons was utilized after being determined using Krejcie & Morgan table (1970). The study adopted a stratified random sampling technique to identify the respondents of the instruments. The study used structured questionnaires as the main tool of data collections. The instrument was validated by the supervisors. Reliability of the instrument was determined through a pilot study. Thereafter, Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.766, this indicated that the instrument was reliable. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics and presented in tables. The study established that the following performance appraisal techniques (Human Resource Accounting method (p=0.000), management significantly influence civil servants’ motivation. Keywords: Human Resource Accounting method, Civil servants’ motivation, Department of Tourism, Kenya.
Structure of a G-protein-coupling Domain of a Muscarinic Receptor Predicted by Random Saturation Mutagenesis (*)

The third intracellular loop (i3) plays a critical role in the coupling of many receptors to G-proteins. In muscarinic receptor subtypes, the N- and C-terminal regions (Ni3 and Ci3) of this loop are sufficient to direct appropriate G-protein coupling. The relative functional contributions of all amino acids within Ni3 was evaluated by constructing libraries of m5 muscarinic receptors containing random mutations in Ni3 and screening them using high throughput assays based on ligand-dependent transformation of NIH 3T3 cells. In receptors that retained a wild type phenotype, the pattern of functionally tolerated substitutions is consistent with the presence of three turns of an α helix extending from the transmembrane domain. All of the amino acid positions that tolerate radical substitutions face away from a conserved hydrophobic face that ends with an arginine, and helix-disrupting proline substitutions were not observed. All of the mutant receptors with significantly compromised phenotypes had amino acid substitutions in residues predicted to form the hydrophobic face. Similar data from the Ci3 region (Burstein, E. S., Spalding, T. A., Hill-Eubanks, D., and Brann, M. R.(1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 3141-3146) are consistent with the presence of a single helical turn extending from the transmembrane domain, with an alanine that defines G-protein affinity. Functionally critical residues of Ni3 and Ci3 are predicted to be in close proximity where they form the G-protein-coupling domain.
Persistent and Shared Objects in Trellis/Owl

We discuss the design of an object-oriented database extension to Trellis/Owl, a strongly-typed object-oriented programming language developed at Digital. We use the abstract data typing mechanisms of Trellis/Owl to provide a database collection type which enables programs to share objects in a distributed workstation environment. The database is an object repository which enables Trellis/Owl programs to coordinate the sharing of persistent objects. The object-oriented database is not intended for conventional database applications such as online transaction processing, but rather for applications which have complex data structuring requirements, and which access relatively “large” objects over “long” periods of time.
Stochastic stabilization of Semi-Markov jump uncertain systems: Dynamic output feedback case

In this paper, we address the problem of the robust dynamic output feedback control design for the Semi-Markov jump linear system (S-MJLS) with Linear Fraction uncertainties. In the S-MJLS, the transition rates is time-varying. Numerically solvable sufficient condition for the stochastic stability of S-MJLS is established in terms of linear matrix inequalities. To reduce the conservativeness, the robust dynamic output feedback controller is accordingly developed via partitioning the upper and lower bounds of the time-varying transition rate. Two numerical examples are given to show the validity and potential of the developed results.
Cultured porcine myogenic cells produce insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) and transforming growth factor beta-1 stimulates IGFBP-3 production.

Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBP) may act locally as autocrine or paracrine regulators of insulin-like growth factor activity in specific tissues such as muscle. Although secretion of IGFBP by cultured myogenic cell lines has been examined, little is known about secretion of IGFBP by primary myogenic cell cultures. This may be because primary myogenic cultures contain non-muscle cells (fibroblasts) that complicate interpretation of IGFBP determinations. We have circumvented this problem by subculturing nonfusing cells from extensively fused porcine myogenic cultures and comparing the IGFBP production of these nonfusing, porcine muscle-derived cells with that of primary porcine myogenic cell cultures. Immunoprecipitation with specific antibodies and 125I-IGF-I ligand blot analysis showed that myogenic cultures secreted IGFBP-3 (doublet band, 43 kDa and 39 kDa), IGFBP-2 (34 kDa), IGFBP-4 (30 and 24 kDa), and IGFBP-5 (30 and 28 kDa). Muscle-derived fibroblasts secreted no detectable IGFBP-3 but approximately 10 times more IGFBP-2 than did myogenic cell cultures. Treatment of myogenic cultures for 24 h with transforming growth factor (TGF) beta-1 caused a concentration-dependent increase in IGFBP-3 secretion with a maximum 1.5-fold increase occurring at . 5 ng of TGF beta-1/mL. In contrast, TGF beta-1 treatment did not stimulate detectable IGFBP-3 secretion by muscle-derived fibroblast cultures. Northern analysis of total RNA using a porcine IGFBP-3 probe revealed that TGF beta-1 treatment resulted in a fourfold increase in the steady-state level of IGFBP-3 mRNA in myogenic cultures. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 mRNA was not detectable in fibroblast cultures either before or after TGF beta-1 treatment. This is the first report of IGFBP-3 secretion by cultured myogenic cells.
Reduction of pulse-to-pulse interaction using alternative RZ formats in 40-Gb/s systems

We show that pulse-to-pulse interaction at 40 Gb/s can be reduced by alternating the optical phase of adjacent bits by using either a modified-duobinary return-to-zero (RZ) modulation format or RZ with alternating phase. Also, the generation of ghost pulses can be greatly suppressed using the modified-duobinary and duobinary RZ format.
Resistance Patterns and Prevalence of the Aminoglycoside Modifying Enzymes in Clinical Isolates of Gram Negative Pathogens

In this nationwide study we investigated the occurrence of aminoglycoside resistance patterns and prevalence of the aminoglycoside modifying enzymes (AMEs), aac(6), ant(2) and aph(3), in clinical isolates of Acinetobacter species, E. coli, Klebsiella species and Pseudomonas species isolates from various clinical specimens. A total of 319 clinical specimens recovered from urine, blood, wound, catheter tips and sputum were collected and were processed for identification of bacterial isolates in these specimens. The selected bacterial isolates were examined for susceptibility to Potentox, cefepime, amikacin, tobramycin, meropenem, gentamicin, piperacillin plus tazobactam by disc diffusion method. AMEs were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A total of 255 Gram negative clinical isolates were recovered from clinical specimens that include 9.0 % of Acinetobacter species, 34.9% of Escherichia coli, 29.0% of Pseudomonas species and 27.0% of Klebsiella species. Among the 255 clinical isolates, 75.7% isolates were found to carry AMEs. The AMEs genes found were aac(6) (43.5 to 51.7%), ant(2) (17.4 to 20.2%) and aph(3) (5.6 to 10.1%) of the isolates. The most prevalent AMEs was aac(6). Our data displayed that Potentox was the most active antibacterial agent against AMEs followed by meropenem. Potentox exhibited more than 93% susceptibility to all 3 types of AMEs (aac, ant & aph) whereas meropenem response was almost 20% lesser with susceptibility ranging not more than 73.4%. Piperacillin plus tazobactam was found to be the least active with less than 20% susceptibility. The susceptibility of other antibacterial agents varied between 20% to <40% %. In conclusion 75.7 % isolates carried AMEs that included aac(6), ant(2) and aph(3) which are responsible for resistance. Among the tested drugs, traditionally used aminoglycoside showed the maximum resistance. Surprizingly, broad spectrum antibiotics like meropenem, cefepime and piperacillin tazobactam also exhibited resistance to aminoglycoside modifying enzyme producing strains. However, in this study, Potentox showed excellent in vitro antibacterial activity up to 95 % of all isolates. We suggest that that Potentox which has been introduced recently into clinical settings would allow clinicinas to overcome the aminoglycoside resistance acquired by some bacterial strains.
Dose and dose intensity of adjuvant chemotherapy for stage II, node-positive breast carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Adjuvant chemotherapy is widely used for breast cancer and is known to extend survival. Some clinicians seek a greater survival benefit by increasing the intensity of the dose, whereas others lower it to diminish toxicity. METHODS The Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) conducted a randomized trial of different levels of doses and dose intensity (dose per unit of time) of adjuvant chemotherapy in 1572 women with node-positive, stage II breast cancer who were assigned to three treatment groups. One group received 400 mg of cyclophosphamide per square meter of body-surface area and 40 mg of doxorubicin per square meter once every 28 days and 400 mg of fluorouracil per square meter twice every 28 days, for six cycles. Another group received 50 percent higher doses of the three drugs (600 mg, 60 mg, and 600 mg, respectively) but for only four cycles, so that the total dose was identical in these two groups but the dose intensity was higher in the first. The third group of women received half the total dose used in the other two groups and at half the dose intensity used in the second group. RESULTS After a median of 3.4 years of follow-up, the women treated with a high or moderate dose intensity had significantly longer disease-free survival (P < 0.001) and overall survival (P = 0.004) than those treated with a low dose intensity, in three-way log-rank comparisons. However, the difference in survival between the two groups treated with a moderate or high dose intensity was not significant. These results are consistent with either a dose-response effect or a threshold level of the dose or dose intensity. CONCLUSIONS The doses of chemotherapy used to treat breast cancer, especially early breast cancer, should not be reduced if the maximal benefit is to be achieved.
Adrenomedullin: A Cardiac Depressant Factor in Septic Shock

Abstract Despite intensive research, septic shock is still the most common cause of death in surgical intensive care, and its incidence keeps increasing.1,2 No curative treatment is yet available. The critical aspect of septic shock is the refractory hypotension that develops during its late phase which leads to a progressive deterioration of cell and organ functions,3 and in most instances, death. During septic shock, following the overproduction of cytokines,4 many factors such as nitric oxide5 and adrenomeduilin (ADM)6 are produced in abnormally large quantities, but our understanding of their contribution to the pathophysiology of sepsis is limited. Here we show that adrenomeduilin (22–52), an adrenomeduilin receptor antagonist,7 improves the contractility of myocytes isolated from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐treated rats, whereas in normal myocytes, adrenomeduilin, acting through an adrenomeduilin (22–52) sensitive receptor, decreases their contractility. In addition, adrenomeduilin anti‐serum and inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor improve the survival of LPS‐treated rats. The data indicate that adrenomeduilin is a cardiac depressant factor, which along with NO8 precipitates ventricular failure during septic shock.
Differential Regulation of GLUT1 and GLUT4 Glucose Transporters in Skeletal Muscle of a New Model of Type II Diabetes: The Obese SHR/N-cp Rat

The obese diabetic SHR/N-cp rat is a newly developed strain that inherits obesity as an autosomal recessive trait. These rats display early-onset hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia, which are hallmarks of type II diabetes. This study was undertaken to determine the expression and the subcellular distribution of the GLUT1 and GLUT4 glucose transporters in skeletal muscle of obese diabetic SHR rats. D-glucose-protectable cytochalasin-B binding to subcellular membrane fractions of hindlimb muscles was used to determine glucose transporter number. GLUT1 and GLUT4 glucose transporter isotypes were detected using antibodies to the COOH-terminal region of the GLUT1 and GLUT4 proteins. Glucose transporter number was significantly lower (–40%) in crude unfractionated membranes of obese diabetic SHR than of lean SHR muscles. When crude membranes were fractionated to separate plasma membranes and the intracellular membranes containing glucose transporters, the number of cytochalasin-B binding sites was found to be markedly lower (–50%) in intracellular membranes and slightly but not significantly reduced (–20%) in plasma membranes of muscle from obese diabetic SHR compared with lean SHR rats. Western blot analysis revealed that a lower GLUT4 protein abundance (–40%) accounts for the reduced glucose transporter number in intracellular membranes of obese diabetic SHR compared with lean SHR muscles. GLUT4 protein content was also reduced by 50% in plasma membranes from obese SHR muscles relative to lean rat muscles. In contrast, GLUT1 glucose transporters were more abundant (40d%) in plasma membranes of obese diabetic SHR rats compared with their lean counterparts. The latter finding may explain the lack of phenotypic difference in plasma membrane total glucose transporter number as measured by cytochalasin-B binding. GLUT4 and GLUT1 mRNA levels were both found to be significantly decreased in obese SHR rats compared with their lean littermates. These results demonstrate that 1) GLUT4 transporter expression is reduced in skeletal muscle of obese diabetic SHR rats, a model of type II diabetes; 2) the decreased GLUT4 abundance was localized to both the sarcolemmal and intracellular membrane fractions; 3) in contrast to the GLUT4 glucose transporter, GLUT1 protein content was greater in plasma membranes of skeletal muscle from obese diabetic SHR rats, suggesting that these transporter isoforms are inversely regulated in muscle of these diabetic animals; and 4) posttranscriptional mechanisms appear to be responsible for the differential expression of GLUT1 and GLUT4 proteins in muscle of obese diabetic SHR rats.
‘Offline’ vs ‘online’ media: Claim-makers, content, and audiences of climate change information

This paper aims to explore both similarities and differences between offline and online climate change communication in terms of claim-makers, content, and audiences. It is based on academic peer reviewed papers directly relevant to the communication of climate change by the media, published in English language between 2010 and 2016. Interdependences between offline and online media are often cited, especially in terms of web searches of information already reported by traditional media (both print and television). In some other cases, the study of the intermedia agenda shows that the debate originated on online blogs triggers and conditions the attention of print media. This interdependence is also showed by a polarisation between ‘activists’ and ‘contrarians’ in both online and offline arenas. However, while the web offers greater space for interaction and a variety of sources, the dominance of the ‘old media’ point of view seems to undermine these attempts.
Use of Online Learning Resources by Students: The Case of Crawford University, Nigeria

In the past, access to library holdings was through cabinet boxes via card catalogue system which took time and warped users. Not anymore. From the comfort of one’s remote location, uninterrupted access to learning resources through the Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) system is now the standard. This study investigates the level of awareness and the use of OPAC services by the undergraduate students of Crawford University, Nigeria. Focus is on the challenges encountered and possible solutions. Findings from 115 respondents show that majority of the respondents, 81.8%, are not aware of the OPAC services, 97.3% heavily rely on the library staff and the shelf list to locate and retrieve library resources, 90.0% rely on their peers, 94.5% wander from one shelf to the other while 65.5% scatter the shelves before they find what they are searching for! Orientation and re-orientation of the students toward OPAC and publicity hold the key to a visible and optimum use of the system.
The Direction of a Writing Centre: a Research into the Effects of Directive and Non-Directive Peer-Feedback on Students’ Text Structure quality

With a drastic increase in number of writing centres in the Netherlands over the last ten years, their actual effectiveness becomes more and more important. Whereas students’ attitudes about the writing centres’ non-directive approach have been proved to be very positive (e.g. Archer, 2008; Tan, 2009), the effects on students’ writing skills remain unclear. Trying to fill this gap, this paper reports the findings of an experiment that exposes to what extent students’ text structure get influenced by writing centre interventions. 41 students that visited a writing centre in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, were randomly assigned to the experimental condition (i.e., non-directive peer-feedback) or a control condition (directive peerfeedback). The results indicated that students’ texts structure quality increased similarly after both types of feedback: whereas the text structure on paragraph and textual level improved, the external structure did not. Moreover, the text structure quality of a given, weak, text that had to be improved by the participants was similarly influenced by the two types of intervention. These results suggest that non-directive interventions do increase students’ text structuring skills, but do not increase their skills more or differently than directive peer-feedback does.
The Relationship Between Financial Connections and Business Performance of Private Enterprises: Evidence from Chinese Listed Firms

Sample data were acquired from Chinese listed private enterprises. Then, the random effect model of panel data was used to establish a regression model of business performance and firm financial connection and examine the relationship between them. Results showed that the higher the degree of private enterprise financial connection, the worse the business performance of the enterprise. In other words, financial connection provides financing convenience, but it cannot improve business efficiency. We also classified the sample enterprises according to size and found that financial connection has a greater negative impact on the performance of small-scale firms compared with large-scale ones. Moreover, dividing the sample enterprises according to the degree of financial marketization in the location of the sample enterprises indicated that financial connection has a negative effect on the performance of private enterprises in areas with low degree of financial marketization. The classification of financial connection also revealed that non-bank financial connection exerts a greater negative impact on corporate performance than bank financial connection.