Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Energy Production and Redox Status of Rat Red Blood Cells after Reticulocytosis Induced by Various Treatments

Stimulated erythropoiesis and reticulocytosis can be induced by daily bleeding, or by phenylhydrazine (PHZ) treatment. We compared the in vivo effects of PHZ and bleeding treatment on haematological, energy and redox status parameters in red blood cells (RBC) of rats. The results showed that all followed haematological parameters were significantly lower in bleeding, compared to PHZ-treated rats. PHZ induced even 2.58-fold higher reticulocytosis as compared to bleeding treatment. Although PHZ induced higher reticulocytosis, respiration intensity and energy production was lower than in bleeding-induced reticulocytes. These alterations were the consequence of increased superoxide anion and peroxynitrite concentrations in PHZ-treated rats. Bleeding treatment resulted in increased activity of an antioxidative enzyme, superoxide dismutase. In conclusion, differences in these two experimental models for reticulocytosis may be used as tools for appropriate pharmacological testing of redox-active substances considering energy and redox processes, as well as apoptosis pathways.
Environmental Policy Tools and Firm-Level Management Practices: Empirical Evidence for Germany

On the basis of abundant facility and firm-level data for German manufacturing, originating from a recent OECD-survey, this paper empirically investigates the relevance of a variety of incentives for environmentally innovative behavior of facilities, the respective influence of pressure groups, and the impact of both regulatory and market-based policy instruments, such as eco-taxes. Since the early 1990s, Environmental Management Systems (EMS), specifically, have become a vital voluntary complement to mandatory environmental policies based on regulation and legislation. EMS may be perceived as an organizational environmental innovation that may lead to improved environmental performance. While the paper provides a descriptive analysis of the determinants for EMS-adoption and incentives that may trigger environmental innovation activities within German facilities, the major questions that will be addressed in this paper are: (1) How can public authorities support the introduction of management practices that may lead to improved environmental performance? (2) What are the main determinants of environmentally innovative behavior of firms? Specifically, we are interested in the role that market forces and regulation play in the process of complex firm decisions on innovation and environmental performance. While the relevant literature on these issues is dominated by case studies, our large-scale survey indicates that the most important reasons why firms contemplate introducing EMS are to improve the efforts to achieve regulatory compliance, to improve the corporate image, and to create cost savings with respect to both waste management and resource input. Among pressure groups, internal stakeholders - management employees and corporate headquarters - appear to be more influential with respect to EMS-adoption and environmental innovation than external forces, such as public authorities.
The role of the public library in economic empowerment and poverty alleviation among informal sector women entrepreneurs - a preliminary study in the Umhlatuze municipality

The informal sector women entrepreneur is a major contributor to the income of a household, and also contributes to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. To establish and sustain profitable businesses this group needs access to business information. Given the low educational levels that characterise the informal sector women entrepreneurs, information provided to them needs to be repackaged to levels appropriate to their understanding. The primary objectives of the study was to determine whether an institution like the public library plays any meaningful role in information provision to informal sector women entrepreneurs, and also to establish the demographic profile of this largely marginalised group. The major findings revealed that access to information is a real problem, and that information sources and channels currently used - such as friends or relatives - are not providing the needed information. They are also completely unaware of the library as an information provider. The libraries themselves seem to be unprepared to service this group of potential clients, preferring them to come to the library to seek information, rather than reaching out to them in their workplaces.
Audit Committee Interaction with the Internal Audit Function: Evidence from Tunisia

The role of the audit committee and the internal audit function in corporate governance has grown in recent years. In that context, the audit literature and practice has underlined the increasingly important role of support and interaction between the audit committee and the internal audit with the aim to improve the corporate governance quality.The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the audit committee and the internal audit function as well as the impact of audit committee characteristics on this relationship in the Tunisian context.Data were collected by means of a questionnaire addressed to chief internal auditors of 50 Tunisian firms. The regression results suggest that the expertise and frequency of meetings of the audit committee have a positive impact on audit committee interaction with internal audit, while the size of the audit committee affects negatively this interaction. However, audit committee independence has no effect on audit committee relation with the internal audit function
Cerebrovascular effects of topically applied serotonin in the cat

SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE now exists indicating that cerebral vasospasm frequently occurs after rupture of an intracranial aneurysm. ' Serious complications, such as local or remote areas of cerebral softening, infarction, or massive cerebral edema, apparently may be caused in some cases by severe vasospasm. Since this type of vasospasm is so often associated with subarachnoid hemorrhage after rupture of an intracranial aneurysm and tends to disappear as extravasated blood is absorbed, it was thought that some substance in the blood might be a causative factor. Serotonin (5hvdroxytryptamine) was selected for study because it is present in platelets and is known to have a marked constrictor action on peripheral arteries. Experiments were therefore conducted to determine whether serotonin exerted similar effects on cerebral arteries.
Consequences of commercial web presence: an exploratory study of South Korean business adopters of websites

A key research issue to this study is to explore how marketers who have already presented on the web perceive the world wide web as a marketing communications tool. The research focus is on examining what organisational benefits are recognised and how such benefits are associated with organisational features, attitudes towards the web presence and overall satisfaction with the web presence. The data for this study were collected from a national survey of a stratified random sample of 164 South Korean companies who were running websites at the time. The results obtained in this study suggest that companies, overall, hold favourable attitudes towards their web presence, yet the overall level of satisfaction with running websites was moderate. Four benefit dimensions emerged from the factor analysis. Implications of the findings are discussed.
A Tool for Aligning Event Logs and Prescriptive Process Models through Automated Planning

In Conformance Checking, alignment is the problem of detecting and repairing nonconformity between the actual execution of a business process, as recorded in an event log, and the model of the same process. Literature proposes solutions for the alignment problem that are implementations of planning algorithms built ad-hoc for the specific problem. Unfortunately, in the era of big data, these ad-hoc implementations do not scale sufficiently compared with wellestablished planning systems. In this paper, we tackle the above issue by presenting a tool, also available in ProM, to represent instances of the alignment problem as automated planning problems in PDDL (Planning Domain Definition Language) for which state-of-The-Art planners can find a correct solution in a finite amount of time. If alignment problems are converted into planning problems, one can seamlessly update to the recent versions of the best performing automated planners, with advantages in term of versatility and customization. Furthermore, by employing several processes and event logs of different sizes, we show how our tool outperforms existing approaches of several order of magnitude and, in certain cases, carries out the task while existing approaches run out of memory.
Mastering the Coating Thickness Obtained Using Liquids with a Yield-stress

Dip coating is a very common process in food manufacturing. Controlling the thickness of the coating is key to deliver the desired sensorial properties and to be compliant with the product’s nutritional claims. Whilst dip coating with Newtonian liquids is physically well understood, coating food products almost invariably involve liquids with more complex rheology. This makes the process more difficult to design and control and reduces the coating homogeneity. Developing novel food products with improved nutritional attributes often calls for reducing the coating thickness and non-homogeneity should be avoided to guarantee the quality of the final product. In this study, we focused on the coating of a flat surface using Carbopol solutions and a commercial ketchup, following a Herschel-Bulkley rheological model. The final average coating thickness was always significantly lower than the critical thickness that can be estimated from liquid density and yield stress. Liquids with a yield stress in the range 4-56 Pa were considered in this study and the steady withdrawal speed from the bath was varied in the range 0.1-20 mm/s. The resulting average coating thickness and its uniformity are discussed. The results are interpreted in the context of an existing theory for dip coating with liquids with a yield stress. This study paves the way toward an integrated design of the coating process and the liquid rheology of foods, such as chocolate or ketchup. This can enable the development of new food products allying improved nutrition, a consumer preferred sensory profile and cost.
Rapid clearance of rituximab may contribute to the continued high incidence of autoimmune hematologic complications of chemoimmunotherapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Rituximab is an effective treatment for autoimmune cytopenias associated with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Despite the incorporation of rituximab into fludarabine-based chemotherapy regimens, the incidence of autoimmune cytopenias has remained high. Inadequate rituximab exposure due to rapid antibody clearance may be a contributing factor. To test this hypothesis, we measured serum rituximab levels in patients treated with fludarabine and rituximab (375 mg/m2). All patients had undetectable rituximab trough levels by the end of cycle 1, and one-third had undetectable levels already on Day 6 of cycle 1. Although rituximab trough levels increased progressively with each cycle, only by cycle 4 did the median trough level exceed 10 ug/mL. The median half-life of rituximab during cycle 1 was 27 hours, compared to 199 hours during cycle 4 (P<0.0001). There was a significant inverse correlation between the rituximab half-life in cycle 1 and the degree of tumor burden (P=0.02). Two patients who were identified as having subclinical autoimmune hemolysis prior to therapy were given additional doses of rituximab during the initial cycles of therapy and did not develop clinically significant hemolysis. One patient who developed clinically significant hemolysis during therapy was given additional rituximab doses during cycles 3–5 and was able to successfully complete his treatment. In conclusion, rituximab is cleared so rapidly during the initial cycles of therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia that most patients have only transient serum levels. More frequent dosing of rituximab may be required to prevent autoimmune complications in at-risk patients (clinicaltrials.gov identifier:00001586).
Perspectives on Internationalizing Higher Education

Other Examples Other countries offer alternatives to American thinking. In Western Europe, tuition remains low, or in some cases entirely free. There is still a commitment to the public good argument. The European experience shows that modern postindustrial societies can support public higher education systems and provide access to growing numbers of students. In Australia, where there has been a U.S.-style shift to the private good idea, the funding system is based on a concept of a tax on the earnings of university graduates—degree holders pay back the cost of their higher education, over time, based on their incomes. There is less of an immediate burden on individuals and a greater degree of equity. These examples show that there are other ways to think about financing large higher education systems.
Management Information System and Senior Staff Job Performance in Polytechnics, Kwara State, Nigeria

This study sought to find the relationship between the use of Management Information System and senior staff job performance in Polytechnics in Kwara State, Nigeria. Three hundred and twenty respondents were selected using random sampling technique from the two Polytechnics in Kwara State. The sample was made up of 200 academic staff and 120 senior non-academic staff from the institutions. Researcher-designed instruments, tagged: “Management Information System Questionnaire” (MISQ) and “Job Performance Appraisal Questionnaire” (JPAQ) were used to elicit information from the respondents. The data collected were analysed using frequency counts and percentage to answer the research questions raised, while Pearson product-moment correlation co-efficient was used to test the hypotheses formulated at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that Senior Staff in the Polytechnics in Kwara State made effective use of both traditional and electronic-based management information system. There was significant relationship between the use of MIS and Senior Staff Job Performance in the institutions. On this note, it was recommended, among others, that the Federal Government through the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) in Nigeria should establish MIS units for the Polytechnics as done in the Nigerian Universities; Government should encourage modern Information Technology (IT) in Technical and Vocational Education Curriculum so that teachers of the discipline can be well groomed with the techniques and strategies of using MIS in polytechnics administration. Needed MIS facilities should be provided while the available ones should be adequately maintained for staff use. Keywords: Management Information System, Senior Staff, Job Performance, Polytechnics
Tradition vs. Trend: A Case Study of Team Response to the Secondary Ticket Market

The article presents a sports marketing case study on a sports team's response to the secondary market in tickets to its sports events. A National Football League (NFL) team's management of the secondary market is examined. Anonymous team marketing and sales officials describe the team's finances and its ticket pricing policies. The team institutes a relationship with the online ticket sales company Ticketmaster to provide a secondary market for spectators with season tickets to sell tickets to individual games at face value. The officials state that this relationship provided significant indications that the team could increase revenue by instituting variable prices for tickets to individual games based on demand, and by participating in a truly free secondary market. However, the team's owner refused to do so due to the negative associations sports fans have of ticket "scalping. "
Influence of prenatal organohalogen levels on infant male sexual development: sex hormone levels, testes volume and penile length.

BACKGROUND Prenatal exposure to endocrine disruptors, like organohalogen compounds (OHCs), might be responsible for the increased aberrations in human male sexual development (hypospadias, cryptorchidism, testicular cancer and fall in sperm count) observed over the past decades. This development is established during fetal life, and reflected in sex hormone levels, testes volume and penile length post-partum. The present study investigates the correlation between prenatal OHC levels and male sexual development outcomes. METHODS AND RESULTS Levels of eight neutral [2,2'-bis-(4-chlorophenyl)-1,1'-dichloroethene (4,4'-DDE), 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl, 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE)-47, -99, -100, -153, -154 and 1,2,5,6,9,10-hexabromocyclododecane, HBCDD] and four phenolic [(pentachlorophenol (PCP), 4OH-CB-107 (4-hydroxy-2,3,3',4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl), -146 and -187)] OHCs were determined in 55 maternal serum samples taken at 35 weeks of pregnancy. Eight sex development-related hormones [testosterone, free testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG); LH, FSH, estradiol (E(2)), free E(2) (FE(2)) and inhibin B (InhB)] were determined in their sons at 3 months of age, and testes volume and penile length at 3 and 18 months of age. The following prenatal OHC levels correlated significantly with sex hormone levels: PCP with SHBG and InhB (ρ = 0.30 and -0.43, respectively), 4OH-CB-107 with testosterone (ρ = 0.31) and BDE-154 with FE(2), E(2) and InhB (ρ = 0.49, 0.54 and 0.34, respectively). BDE-154 levels correlated positively with testes volume at 18 months of age (ρ = 0.34). CONCLUSIONS Prenatal OHC exposure is correlated with aspects of sexual development outcome in boys up to 18 months of age.
Maximizing Investments in Work Zone Safety in Oregon

Due to the federal stimulus program and the 2009 Jobs and Transportation Act, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) anticipates that a large increase in highway construction will occur. There is the expectation that, since transportation safety grant funds may not increase and due to the lack of police enforcement resources, ODOT will need to be more strategic in planning how the available funds will be used. Questions regarding the allocation of safety grants among enforcement, equipment, and public education, and the optimal use of funds within each category, are being asked. Thus, a research project was initiated to investigate methods for maximizing work zone safety investments. The goal of this research project is to: (1) provide guidance for maximizing ODOT’s investments in work zone enforcement; (2) determine if additional coordination between the work zone enforcement program and the traffic control planning and work zone management efforts would enhance the programs; and (3) review the effectiveness of the work zone safety public education program both in terms of message and media and determine if other approaches should be considered.
Bedtime Stories for Managers : Farewell to Lofty Leadership ... Welcome Engaging Management Ed. 1

If you're like most managers and things keep you up at night, now you can turn to a book that's designed especially for you! But you won't find talking rabbits or princesses here. (There is a cow, but it doesn't jump.) Henry Mintzberg has culled forty-two of the best posts from his widely read blog and turned them into a deceptively light, sneakily serious compendium of sometimes heretical reflections on management. The moral here is this: managers need to leave their castles and find out what's actually going on in their kingdoms. And like real bedtime stories, these essays have metaphors galore. So prepare to grow strategies like weeds and organize like a cow. Discover the maestro myth of managing, find the soft underbelly of hard data, and learn why downsizing is bloodletting and your board should be a bee. Mintzberg writes, “Just try not to be outraged by anything you read, because some of my most outrageous ideas turn out to be my best. They just take a while to become obvious. ”
Prevalence of gastric ulcer in cirrhotic patients and its relation to portal hypertension

The prevalence of gastric ulcer and its relationship to the severity of cirrhosis and degree of portal hypertension was evaluated in 245 cirrhotic patients, and compared with 245 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy subjects. Portal and systemic haemodynamic studies were performed in cirrhotic patients. The prevalence of gastric ulcer in cirrhotic patients was 20.8%, which was significantly higher than the 4.0% found in healthy controls. Using a multivariate logistic regression model, the hepatic venous pressure gradient was found to be the only predictor of the prevalence of gastric ulcer in cirrhotic patients to present with gastric ulcer. The hepatic venous pressure gradient was significantly higher in cirrhotic patients with gastric ulcer than in those without (17.3 ± 4.4 vs 15.5 ± 5.0 mmHg, P= 0.01). Other variables, including sex, smoking, cardiac output and severity or aetiology of cirrhosis did not show significant differences between the two patient groups. The prevalence of gastric ulcer in cirrhotic patients whose hepatic venous pressure gradient was below 12 mmHg (4.5%) was similar to that observed in the healthy controls (4.0%). However, when the hepatic venous pressure gradient was > 12 mmHg, the prevalence of gastric ulcer (24.4%) was significantly higher than that in control subjects. However, the incidence of gastric ulcer was not related to the degree of portal hypertension. In conclusion, the prevalence of gastric ulcer in cirrhotic patients was found to be significantly higher than in the age‐ and sex‐matched healthy subjects. Portal hypertension with a hepatic venous pressure gradient > 12 mmHg may be an important factor contributing to the increased prevalence of gastric ulcer observed in patients with liver cirrhosis.
Local Inhibition of Liver Fibrosis by Specific Delivery of a Platelet-Derived Growth Factor Kinase Inhibitor to Hepatic Stellate Cells

Liver fibrosis is characterized by excessive proliferation and activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSC), a process in which platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) plays an important role. Inhibition of liver fibrosis via specific delivery of a PDGF kinase inhibitor to HSC might therefore be an attractive strategy. The HSC-selective carrier mannose-6-phosphate modified human serum albumin (M6PHSA) was equipped with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, 4-chloro-N-[4-methyl-3-(4-pyridin-3-yl-pyrimidin-2-ylamino)-phenyl]-benzamide (PAP19) (an imatinib derivative), by means of the platinum-based universal linkage system (ULS). The antifibrotic activity of PAP19-M6PHSA was evaluated in culture-activated rat HSC and precision-cut liver slices from fibrotic rats. After 24-h incubation, both free inhibitor PAP19 and PAP19-M6PHSA showed potent activity, as determined by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis of α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA) and procollagen 1a1. Next, we examined the organ distribution and antifibrotic activity of PAP19-M6PHSA in bile duct-ligated (BDL) rats. Male Wistar rats at day 10 after BDL were administered a single dose of PAP19-M6PHSA and sacrificed at 2 h, 1 day, or 2 days afterward. The accumulation of PAP19-M6PHSA in the liver was quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography analysis (30% of the injected dose at 2 h) and detected in the liver by staining of the carrier. Liver drug levels were sustained at 24 and 48 h after the single dose. Furthermore, PAP19-M6PHSA reduced collagen deposition (Sirius red staining) and αSMA staining of activated HSC at these time points in comparison with saline-treated rats. We therefore conclude that delivery of a PDGF-kinase inhibitor to HSC is a promising technology to attenuate liver fibrogenesis.