Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
“Fuzzy Front End” Practices in Innovating Japanese Companies

In this paper, we report on the results of a large-scale study about typical front-end-related innovation practices in 553 Japanese mechanical and electrical engineering companies. We explore typical activities concerning the generation and assessment of new product ideas, the reduction of technological as well as market uncertainty and front end planning. Finally, we report on the differences between successful and unsuccessful companies. Our study confirms earlier findings about the frequent use of creativity techniques in Japan during the process of idea generation. We also find companies to be intensively involved in upper management and customers on NPD projects. While integrating upper management is of vital importance for assessing new product ideas, integrating customers and users is primarily used to developing product ideas and concepts. We further find evidence that successful companies integrate their customers more frequently in the process of developing and assessing new product ideas than non-successful companies. In addition, the former integrate customer requirements into their product definitions more often and also translate these requirements into technical specifications more frequently than non-successful companies. Finally, successful companies more often systematically plan a project prior to its start than unsuccessful ones.
Psychosocial and Ethical Issues Relating to Genetic Testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 Breast Cancer Susceptibility Genes

Two breast cancer susceptibility genes have been identified, BRCA1 and BRCA2, which when inherited in altered form, confer a substantially increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Genetic testing for mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes is available to adult men and women at increased risk of carrying such a mutation based on their personal and/or family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer. Testing has profound implications not only for the individual being tested but for their entire family. It is therefore important that the psychosocial and ethical issues are explored through genetic counseling to ensure individuals make informed decisions about testing. Genetic testing may impact on psychological wellbeing, decisions regarding cancer risk management, childbearing and the wider family. Individuals who test positive for a mutation may face ethical dilemmas regarding childbearing and when and how to inform relatives of the genetic information. Female carriers will also face complex and challenging decisions concerning cancer risk management.
Replacement of raw soybean with roasted soybean increased milk production in Holstein cows

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o efeito da substituicao total de soja integral crua (SC) por soja integral tostada (ST) sobre o desempenho produtivo de vacas Holandes. Foram realizados dois experimentos com delineamento experimental de reversao simples nos quais a SC foi totalmente substituida por ST. No experimento 1, foram utilizadas 22 vacas (175±60DEL) e o nivel de inclusao dietetica de SC ou ST foi de 3,7% na materia seca (MS). No experimento 2, foram utilizadas 16 vacas (130±50 DEL) e o nivel de inclusao dietetico de SC ou ST foi de 11% na MS. Em ambos os experimentos, ST aumentou a producao de leite em 1,1kgd-1, sem alterar as producoes de gordura e proteina. O consumo de MS e nitrogenio ureico no leite nao foram afetados pela fonte de soja dietetica. No experimento 2, a concentracao de glicose plasmatica foi reduzida e a relacao alantoina/creatinina na urina tendeu a ser reduzida por ST. O experimento 2 tambem avaliou digestibilidade de nutrientes e cinetica de degradacao ruminal da proteina bruta das duas fontes de soja. Nao houve efeito da tostagem nas digestibilidades da MS, materia orgânica e FDN. A ST apresentou maior fracao B e menor taxa de degradacao da proteina do que a SC, mostrando que o tratamento termico foi efetivo em aumentar o fluxo de aminoacidosnao degradaveis no rumen para o animal, sugerindo um potencial mecanismo de acao para a melhora no desempenho observada com ST.
Willingness Among College Students to Help a Smoker Quit

Objective: Between February and March 2003, the authors examined college students' willingness to help a smoker quit and assessed demographic and psychosocial characteristics associated with willingness to help. Participants: Survey respondents were 701 college students (474 women, 227 men) aged 18 to 24 years who indicated there was someone close to them whom they thought should quit smoking. Methods: Respondents completed measures of willingness to help. The authors used multivariate logistic regression analysis to examine respondent characteristics associated with willingness to help. Results: About half (54%; n = 381) reported that they "definitely would" be interested in helping this smoker quit. Characteristics significantly associated with willingness to help were lower levels of perceived stress, being a non-tobacco user, concern for a boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse who smoked, and more severe levels of distress caused by this person's smoking. Conclusions: A high percentage of college students are willing to help a smoker. Future studies are needed to engage college students who are nonsmokers in tobacco control efforts, including the Healthy Campus 2010 initiatives to reduce smoking among college students.
Canine and feline lymphoma: challenges and opportunities for creating a paradigm shift.

With$rare$exceptions,$NonLHodgkin$Lymphoma$(NHL)$remains$a$fatal$disease$in$dogs$and$ cats. $$Although$our$understanding$of$the$disease$continues$to$grow$through$research,$the$ impact$of$this$research$has$yet$to$be$translated$into$significant$increases$in$survival$times$for$ affected$patients. $$To$highlight$the$importance$of$this$disease,$the$editorial$team$of$ Veterinary$and$Comparative$Oncology$have$constructed$this$themed$issue$highlighting$ current$research$in$this$field. $$This$short$introductory$review$aims$to$provide$a$synopsis$of$ some$of$the$key$areas$of$global$research$interest,$identify$the$challenges$to$clinical$progress$ and$finally$will$offer$an$optimistic$view$of$new$developments$which$aim$to$enhance$the$lives$ of$our$patients. $
Induction of superovulation by inhibin vaccine in cyclic guinea-pigs.

Experiments were conducted to determine whether neutralizing endogenous inhibin affects follicular development and ovulation rate in guinea-pigs. Eighteen female guinea-pigs bearing 4 week progesterone implants were divided into three groups. At 1 week after removal of the progesterone implants, the animals were given a s.c. injection of 1 ml placebo (saline in oil emulsion; control), or 25 or 50 micrograms inhibin vaccine three times at 4 week intervals. Blood samples were collected once a week throughout the experiment for measuring inhibin antibody titres. After the third injection of inhibin vaccine, blood samples and ovaries were collected on the morning of day 8 after the day of oestrus. Inhibin vaccine increased the ovulation rate in a dose-dependent manner (placebo: 4.2 +/- 0.4; 25 micrograms inhibin vaccine: 6.2 +/- 0.9; 50 micrograms inhibin vaccine: 9.8 +/- 0.9) without any effects on the duration of the oestrous cycle. The results also showed that active immunization against inhibin increased the number of atretic follicles of 300-399 microns in diameter on day 8 after ovulation. The present study is the first to show that the active immunization against inhibin may be a useful method for inducing multiple ovulation in guinea-pigs.
Gelatin Prepared from Tuna Skin: A Risk Factor for Fish Allergy or Sensitization?

Background: Although fish gelatin may represent a useful alternative to bovine or porcine gelatins, the clearly recognized high prevalence of fish allergy could increase the risk of anaphylaxis to gelatin. The rationale for investigating tuna gelatin rather than gelatins from more allergenic fishes is the availability of an industrial gelatin under development. The infrequent occurrence of tuna allergy should influence the safety of a derived product. The present study investigated IgE antibodies to tuna-skin-derived gelatin in adults and children with documented fish allergy or sensitization. Methods: Serum samples were taken from 100 consecutive patients with fish allergy or sensitization and tested for IgE antibodies against hydrolyzed or nonhydrolyzed gelatin extracted from tuna skin as compared to extracts from tuna flesh, tuna skin as well as bovine or porcine gelatins. Patients with tuna allergies or sensitization were sensitive to the same tuna species (yellowfin) as that from which the gelatin was obtained. IgE antibodies to these various extracts were analyzed using SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting. Results: Only 3 of the 100 serum samples tested gave evidence of reactivity to gelatin extracted from tuna skin. Cross-reactivity between bovine/porcine and fish gelatins was not observed. Conclusion: The risk of adverse reactions to tuna skin gelatin seems to be significantly lower than the risk of fish allergy. Fish gelatin may represent a valuable alternative to bovine or porcine gelatins.
A comparative outcome analysis of bilateral versus unilateral endoscopic extraperitoneal inguinal hernioplastics.

BACKGROUND Bilateral inguinal hernia is an accepted indication for endoscopic totally extraperitoneal inguinal hernioplasty (TEP), but few studies have proved that the outcomes of bilateral TEP are as good as those of unilateral TEP. The objective of the present study was to compare the clinical outcomes of patients who underwent unilateral TEP with those of patients who underwent bilateral TEP. PATIENTS AND METHODS From June 1999 to May 2002, 103 patients underwent simultaneous bilateral TEP. The clinical data and outcomes of these patients were compared with those of an agematched cohort of patients who underwent unilateral TEP during the same period. RESULTS The demographic features and hernia types were similar for the two groups. The incidence of direct inguinal hernia was significantly higher in the patients with bilateral inguinal hernia. The mean operative time for unilateral TEP was 65 minutes, and for bilateral TEP it was 97 minutes. The mean pain score at rest was significantly lower in the bilateral group than in the unilateral group on postoperative days 2 and 3. Pain scores at rest and during coughing from the day of operation to day 6 were otherwise comparable for the two groups. Comparisons of postoperative morbidity, length of hospital stay, and time to resumption of normal outdoor activities showed no significant differences between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS The postoperative recovery and morbidity of patients who underwent bilateral TEP were equivalent to those who underwent unilateral TEP. Simultaneous bilateral TEP is safe and advantageous in patients with from bilateral inguinal hernias.
Glassy cell carcinoma arising in the vagina

Glassy cell carcinoma is a rare neoplasm that occurs most frequently in the uterine cervix. We describe the first reported case of glassy cell carcinoma arising in the vagina. A 77‐year‐old Japanese woman was admitted to our hospital for atypical genital bleeding. Gynecological examination revealed a macroscopic vaginal cancer of 1.5 cm in diameter located in the upper 1/3 of the vagina. The pathological diagnosis of the biopsied specimen was glassy cell carcinoma. She was successfully treated by conventional radiation therapy and chemotherapy under the diagnosis of stage I vaginal cancer (International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians classification, 1986). The patient is alive, without evidence of recurrence, 21 months following the radiation therapy. Glassy cell carcinoma is classified as the most poorly differentiated form of adenosquamous carcinoma. The present case illustrates the potential for glassy cell carcinoma to arise in the Müllerian epithelium throughout the female genital tract.
Accuracy and Positivity in Adolescent Perceptions of Parent Behavior

Forming accurate perceptions is often linked to positive relationship and individual functioning, yet may also be detrimental in some contexts. The current study examined whether accuracy may be detrimental to individual functioning, both psychological and physiological, in an important social context: parent–adolescent relationships. Specifically, we examined whether the accuracy of adolescents’ perceptions of their parent’s behaviors was associated with adolescent psychological adjustment (depression and perceived stress; N dyads = 99) and proinflammatory profiles (N dyads = 95). Adolescents who viewed their parent’s behaviors more accurately (more in line with external observers’ ratings) reported worse psychological adjustment and demonstrated worse regulation of the inflammatory response. In contrast, adolescents who viewed their parent’s behaviors highly normatively and positively reported better psychological adjustment. Overall, these findings suggest that adolescent accuracy regarding parent behaviors may be detrimental to adolescent psychological adjustment and inflammatory processes.
The diagnosis and management of asymptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism revisited.

Department of Medicine (A.A.K.), McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada L8S 4L8; Departments of Medicineand Pharmacology (J.P.B.), College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032;and Department of Medicine (J.T.P.), Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Massachusetts02114
Current status and future perspectives : primary cilia and kidney injury

Current status and future perspectives: primary cilia and kidney injury 1 Shixuan Wang 1 and Zheng Dong 1,2,* 2 1 Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents 3 University and Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, Augusta, GA 30912; 2 Department of 4 Nephrology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Hunan, China 5 6 7 * Correspondence should be sent to: 8 Zheng Dong, PhD 9 Department of Nephrology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Hunan, 10 China; Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 11 30912. Email: zdong@gru.edu Phone: 706-721-2825 Fax: 706-721-6120 12 13 Articles in PresS. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol (July 31, 2013). doi:10.1152/ajprenal.00399. 2013
Enhancing naive bayes with various smoothing methods for short text classification

Partly due to the proliferance of microblog, short texts are becoming prominent. A huge number of short texts are generated every day, which calls for a method that can efficiently accommodate new data to incrementally adjust classification models. Naive Bayes meets such a need. We apply several smoothing models to Naive Bayes for question topic classification, as an example of short text classification, and study their performance. The experimental results on a large real question data show that the smoothing methods are able to significantly improve the question classification performance of Naive Bayes. We also study the effect of training data size, and question length on performance.
Retrieving of Pups by Neonatally Stressed Mothers

Abstract In the rat, perinatal food and maternal deprivation provoke long-lasting effects upon the retrieving responses of dams to displaced pups. In the current study, the retrieving latency and the disruption in the body area of pups chosen by the mother to transport them to a new location was investigated on days 4, 8 and 12 postpartum in lactating Wistar rats. Rats, neonatally underfed by daily (12 h) mother-litter separation in an incubator from days 1 to 23 postpartum, exhibited prolonged retrieving latencies and disruption in the body area of young ones chosen by the dam to transport them to the nest. Furthermore, neonatally underfed dams frequently transported pups in a rude manner eliciting sonic distress cries from them compared to control mothers. These findings are possibly relevant to understand the impact of epigenetic influences on offspring brain and physiological maturation partly mediated through maternal care.
The social web of things: enabling the interaction of people and things on social networks

Web applications for social networks with similar objectives are now being used on the web by thousands of people. Concepts such as 'scraps', 'virtual friends', 'communities' and 'groups' are increasingly common among users of these applications. Nowadays, people use social networks as a medium to replicate on the web the kind of social activities they would carry out in the real world. However, in real life, people do not just interact with people, they also interact with refrigerators, microwaves, TVs, cars, cell phones, and the like. But in spite of it all, applications for social networks on the web have yet to successfully reproduce this kind of relationship. And so, this article will present an architecture and prototype for the integration of physical devices through the web of things in a social network, where users and devices interact in a similar fashion to how users interact in social networks.
Complete Genome Sequence of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens LL3, Which Exhibits Glutamic Acid-Independent Production of Poly-γ-Glutamic Acid

ABSTRACT Bacillus amyloliquefaciens is one of most prevalent Gram-positive aerobic spore-forming bacteria with the ability to synthesize polysaccharides and polypeptides. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of B. amyloliquefaciens LL3, which was isolated from fermented food and presents the glutamic acid-independent production of poly-γ-glutamic acid.
Numerical Modeling of MOS Dosimeters Under Switched Bias Irradiations

Techniques based on bias switching during the irradiation allow to extend the measurement range of MOS dosimeters. To well predict the response of these sensors under operation conditions it is mandatory to understand the physical phenomena involved. A physics-based numerical model is presented here to reproduce the response of MOS dosimeters under switched bias irradiations. Reported non-monotonic responses after a bias switch were previously explained by the presence of two types of hole traps with different characteristic times. The model presented in this work shows that this behavior can be explained by the spatial charge redistribution using a single trap. The electric field dependences of hole capture and neutralization rates are analyzed and compared with previous experimental results and models in the literature. The spatial distribution of hole traps within the oxide is also analyzed.
Voltage‐sensitive cyanine dye fluorescence signals in lymphocytes: Plasma membrane and mitochondrial components

The origin of the cyanine dye fluorescence signal in murine and human peripheral blood leukocytes was investigated using the oxa‐ and indo‐carbo‐cyanines di‐O‐C5(3). and di‐l‐C5(3). Fluorescence signals from individual cells suspended with nanomolar concentrations of the dyes were measured in a flow cytometer modified to permit simultaneous four‐parameter analysis (including two‐color fluorescence or fluorescence polarization measurements). The contributions of mitochondrial membrane potential (Ψm) and plasma membrane potential (Ψpm) to the total voltage‐sensitive fluorescence signal were found to depend on the equilibrium extracellular dye concentration, manipulated in these experiments by varying the ratio of dye to cell density. Hence, conditions could be chosen that amplified either the Ψm or the Ψpm component. Selective depolarization of lymphocytes or polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) in mixed cell suspensions demonstrated that defining the partition of dye between cells and medium is requisite to assessing the heterogeneity of cell responses by cyanine dye fluorescence. At extracellular dye concentrations exceeding 5 nM in equilibrated cell suspensions, both mitochondrial and plasma membrane dye toxicity were observed. In murine splenic lymphocytes, plasma membrane toxicity (dye‐induced depolarization) was selective for the B lymphocytes. Certain problems in calibration of Ψpm with valinomycin at low dye concentrations and perturbations of Ψpm by mitochondrial inhibitors are presented. These findings address the current controversy concerning Ψm and Ψpm measurement in intact cells by cyanine dye fluorescence. The finding of selective toxicity at low cyanine dye concentrations suggest that purported differences in resting Ψm among cells or changes in Ψpm with cell activation may reflect varible susceptibility to dye toxicity rather than intrinsic cell properties.
Effective string theory.

The effective conformal field theory governing the long-distance dynamics of string solitions in four dimensions, such as the Nielsen-Olesen vortex or QCD strings, is described. It is an interacting Poincare-invariant conformal field theory with four bosons and {ital c}=26. The compatibility of these naively contradictory features is explicitly demonstrated through second order in a perturbation expansion about the long-string vacuum.
Motor switching abilities in Parkinson’s disease and old age: temporal aspects

OBJECTIVES To investigate capabilities of arm trajectory modification in patients with Parkinson’s disease and elderly subjects using a double step target displacement paradigm. METHODS Nine patients with Parkinson’s disease and seven age matched control subjects were instructed to move a stylus towards visual targets presented on a digitising table. Within each session, in some trials the target location was changed before initiation of movement and the subjects were to modify their movements towards the new target (switching trials). In other trials the target location was not changed (control trials). This procedure was repeated for four different target configurations, using interstimulus time intervals of six different durations. The subjects’ hand trajectories were recorded and their kinematic characteristics were analysed. RESULTS In switching trials, about 40% of the movements were aimed directly toward the final target location in both groups. When the trajectories were initially directed toward the first target and then modified toward the second, the reaction time (RT) to the second stimulus (RT2) was longer than to the first stimulus (RT1). The RT2/RT1 ratio was significantly larger in patients with Parkinson’s disease than in healthy elderly subjects. CONCLUSIONS Patients with Parkinson’s disease and elderly subjects are substantially slower in responding to a required modification of their movement than in responding to the required movement initiation. Patients with Parkinson’s disease have impaired capabilities in processing simultaneously the motor responses to two visual stimuli presented in rapid succession.