Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Activation of p42 Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase in Hippocampal Long Term Potentiation*

Although classically studied as regulators of cell proliferation and differentiation, mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are highly expressed in post-mitotic neurons of the adult nervous system. We have begun investigating the potential role of MAPKs in the regulation of synaptic plasticity in mature neurons. In particular, we have studied the regulation of two MAPK isoforms, p44 and p42 MAPK, in hippocampal long term potentiation (LTP), a system widely studied as a model for the cellular basis of learning and memory. We have found that p42 MAPK, but not p44 MAPK, is activated in area CA1 following direct stimulation of two required components of the LTP induction cascades: protein kinase C and the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) subtype of glutamate receptor. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that p42 MAPK, but not p44 MAPK, is activated in area CA1 in response to LTP-inducing high frequency stimulation and that this activation requires NMDA receptor stimulation. These data demonstrate that p42 MAPK can be regulated in an activity-dependent manner in the hippocampus and identify it as a potential component of the LTP induction cascades in area CA1. Such observations suggest that p42 MAPK might be an important regulator of synaptic plasticity in post-mitotic neurons.
The effects of information transparency on analysts& forecasts: evidence from the information disclosure and transparency ratings system in Taiwan

In an attempt to reduce the information asymmetry between corporate insiders and outsiders, the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation (TSEC) and the Gre Tai Securities Market (GTSM) requested the Securities and Futures Institute to implement an information disclosure and transparency ratings system (IDTRS) for all publicly traded companies listed on the TSEC and the GTSM. This study investigates the effects of the IDTRS on the properties of analysts’ forecasts. The results indicate that analysts’ earnings forecasts are more accurate and the earnings forecast dispersion among analysts decreases after the implementation of the IDTRS. Additionally, the results estimated from the post IDTRS period show that the analysts’ earnings forecast errors and dispersion of the “more transparent” companies are smaller than those of the “less transparent” companies.
Automated blood vessel segmentation based on de-noising auto-encoder and neural network

Retinal vessel segmentation has been widely used for screening, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular and ophthalmologic diseases. In this paper, we propose an automated approach for vessel segmentation in digital retinal images based on de-noising auto-encoders layer-wise initialized neural networks. The proposed method utilized a deep neural network, which is layer-wise initialized by de-noising auto-encoders and fine-tuned by BP algorithm, to segment vessel structures in retinal images. The proposed method is very competitive with the state-of-the-art methods. It achieves an average accuracy of 0.9612, 0.9614, 0.6761, sensitivity of 0.7814, 0.7234, 0.9702, and specificity of 0.9788, 0.9799, 0.9702 on 3 public databases DRIVE, STARE, and CHASE_DB1 respectively. The proposed method is promising for automated blood vessel segmentation.
The value relevance of earnings and cash flows under International Financial Reporting Standards: the case of Greece

The aim of this study is to investigate the value relevance of earnings and cash flows, after the mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Greece. According to accounting literature, value relevance is defined as the ability of financial information contained in the financial statements to reflect the value of the company, when the latter is based on share prices. The presentation of yearly cross-sectional regressions for the period 2005 to 2010 revealed that cash flows under IFRS do not contain incremental information as compared to the earnings under IFRS, when both cash flows and earnings are included in the same model.
Identification of novel NF‐κB transcriptional targets in TNFα‐treated HeLa and HepG2 cells

Identification of target genes of NF‐κB is critical for deeply understanding its biological functions. Here, we identified five novel NF‐κB target genes. Firstly, we found that 20 NF‐κB potential target genes (PTGs) identified by ChIP‐Seq and Genechip assay were enriched into the KEGG term of Pathways in cancer, 16 of them were enriched into the KEGG pathways of small cell lung cancer, chronic myeloid leukemia, basal cell carcinoma, pancreatic cancer, and colorectal cancer. Among these PTGs, there are many documented NF‐κB target genes. Therefore, NF‐κB may play important role in cancer progression by transcriptionally regulating these genes. Apart from the known target genes, we also found some novel PTGs including CYCS, MITF, FZD1, FZD8, and PIAS1. We subsequently demonstrated whether NF‐κB transcriptionally control the five PTGs. The ChIP‐Seq assay revealed that NF‐κB/p65 bound to these genes in TNFα‐treated HeLa. The bioinformatic analysis indicated that the NF‐κB binding regions (i.e., ChIP‐Seq peaks) contained κB sites and NF‐κB/RelA DNA‐binding motif. The ChIP‐qPCR assay also confirmed that NF‐κB bound to these regions in both TNFα‐treated HeLa and HepG2 cells. The reporter construct showed that NF‐κB could regulate luciferase expression via its binding region. Finally, qPCR and Western blot assay demonstrated that NF‐κB indeed regulated the expression of these genes in the TNFα‐treated HeLa and HepG2 cells. In a word, CYCS, MITF, FZD1, FZD8, and PIAS1 were identified as bona fide NF‐κB target genes. These findings provide more insights into the role of NF‐κB in cancers.
Response to Incorporation of Supplemental Gonadotropins for Donor and Recipient Protocols in Commercial Bovine Embryo Transfer

Response to Incorporation of Supplemental Gonadotropins for Donor and Recipient Protocols in Commercial Bovine Embryo Transfer. (May 2012) Kelley Christine Chiles, B.S., Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. David Forrest Superovulation of donor cows, embryo transfer, and estrus synchronization of recipients are widely used technologies in the purebred cattle industry. Progress continues to be made to achieve efficient and economic use of these technologies. The first retrospective study was conducted to compare embryo production between a stimulation protocol using only Folltropin ® as the gonadotropin, and a stimulation protocol using Folltropin ® and Pluset ® . Beefmaster donor cows (n=12) were stimulated using both protocols over two stimulated cycles, one protocol each cycle. Both protocols used the same synchronization protocol with only the gonadatropin injections differing. The control protocol (Folltropin ® protocol) consisted of seven Folltropin ® injections over the course of 3.5 days. The treatment protocol (Folltropin ® + Pluset ® protocol) consisted of four Folltropin ® injections followed by three Pluset ® injections over the course of 3.5 days. The mean numbers of viable embryos did not differ between treatments (P>0.01) and were 9.33 and 6.58 for the control and treatment protocols, respectively. The proportion of viable embryos to total ova for each protocol was 0.49 and 0.48 for the control and treatment protocols, respectively (P > 0.10). No
Do Customers Improve New Product Development Efficiency? : Revealing the Impact of Manufacturing-Based Absorptive Capacity

In order to collaborate with customers in new product development efficiently, companies need to maintain some inherent competence that allows them to both understand the external party's processes and absorb external knowledge. The aim of this study was to operationalise absorptive capacity for manufacturing and examine its impact on new product development efficiency. A large scale survey was sent out to Swedish manufacturing companies and the data was analysed using hierarchical regression. The results show that it is not manufacturing competence per se that increases new product development (NPD) efficiency, but rather how the competence is leveraged through various integration mechanisms. The results indicate that the indirect ability to improve NPD efficiency should also be taken into account when a firm is deciding whether to invest in manufacturing or not.
GABAA, GABAC and glycine receptor‐mediated inhibition differentially affects light‐evoked signalling from mouse retinal rod bipolar cells

Rod bipolar cells relay visual signals evoked by dim illumination from the outer to the inner retina. GABAergic and glycinergic amacrine cells contact rod bipolar cell terminals, where they modulate transmitter release and contribute to the receptive field properties of third order neurones. However, it is not known how these distinct inhibitory inputs affect rod bipolar cell output and subsequent retinal processing. To determine whether GABAA, GABAC and glycine receptors made different contributions to light‐evoked inhibition, we recorded light‐evoked inhibitory postsynaptic currents (L‐IPSCs) from rod bipolar cells mediated by each pharmacologically isolated receptor. All three receptors contributed to L‐IPSCs, but their relative roles differed; GABAC receptors transferred significantly more charge than GABAA and glycine receptors. We determined how these distinct inhibitory inputs affected rod bipolar cell output by recording light‐evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents (L‐EPSCs) from postsynaptic AII and A17 amacrine cells. Consistent with their relative contributions to L‐IPSCs, GABAC receptor activation most effectively reduced the L‐EPSCs, while glycine and GABAA receptor activation reduced the L‐EPSCs to a lesser extent. We also found that GABAergic L‐IPSCs in rod bipolar cells were limited by GABAA receptor‐mediated inhibition between amacrine cells. We show that GABAA, GABAC and glycine receptors mediate functionally distinct inhibition to rod bipolar cells, which differentially modulated light‐evoked rod bipolar cell output. Our findings suggest that modulating the relative proportions of these inhibitory inputs could change the characteristics of rod bipolar cell output.
Institutional Investors’ Preferences for REIT Stocks

This article investigates the determinants of real estate investment trusts (REIT) portfolio investment and institutional REIT ownership using multivariate Tobit regressions. We contend that many institutional investors take larger positions in more liquid assets like REIT stocks, as compared with private real estate equities, because of liquidity considerations. Consistent with this contention, we find that liquidity constraints are significantly related to REIT portfolio investment by institutional investors. We also find that institutional investors have different preferences for REIT stocks than do other investors; they generally prefer larger, more liquid REIT stocks. Copyright 2002 American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.
Shared values make a difference: An empirical test of corporate culture

Is the recent popular management literature on corporate culture and cultural values just a passing fad or is it highlighting some fundamental organizational realities? The results from a recent nationwide survey of American managers shows, we are convinced, that clearly articulated organizational values do make a significant difference in the lives of employees, as well as in their organization's performance. This article is an effort to integrate this broad-based data on individual managers' values with the reported experience of successful organizations that pay careful attention to their culture. It also offers ideas on how human resource managers can facilitate the alignment of personal and organizational values.
Measuring Expatriate Return on Investment With an Evaluation Framework

Measuring the outcomes of any human resource management activity is critical in terms of the acquisition, allocation, development, and compensation of employees. Although international assignments and expatriation are important components of most large companies' activities, few of those firms have developed sound metrics to evaluate the success of these initiatives. In particular, there is a lack of established procedures for measuring expatriate return on investment (ROI). The experiences of a large international software development company in measuring expatriate ROI are used to illustrate the dangers of over-reliance on common HR measurement techniques. Then, a two-phase approach to constructing an evaluation framework for expatriate ROI is presented. Rather than focusing on that which is easily measurable, it is designed to direct attention toward the desired outcomes and make the mobility manager directly accountable for business results. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Identification of the Lantibiotic Nisin Q, a New Natural Nisin Variant Produced by Lactococcus lactis 61-14 Isolated from a River in Japan

Lactococcus lactis 61-14 isolated from river water produced a bacteriocin active against a wide range of Gram-positive bacteria. N-terminal amino acid sequencing, mass spectral analysis of the purified bacteriocin, and genetic analysis using nisin-specific primers showed that the bacteriocin was a new natural nisin variant, termed nisin Q. Nisin Q and nisin A differ in four amino acids in the mature peptide and two in the leader sequence.
Road Infrastructure, Economic Productivity, and the Need for Highway Finance Reform

After years of debate, there is still much disagreement about the economic impacts of highway infrastructure. This article suggests that recent empirical evidence can help reconcile the divergent views on the role of highways in the economy. The resolution illuminates two ideas that should be more prominent in transportation policy. First, highways are associated with both local economic gains (often near a project) and economic losses (often distant from a project). In a system of centralized highway finance, this creates the possibility of a geographic mismatch between the areas that pay for highway projects and the areas that benefit from those projects. Second, efficiently using the available highway capital is potentially as effective as building additional highway stock in enhancing the local economic impacts of highways. Both ideas suggest the need for more decentralized, project-specific highway finance that includes a role for efficient pricing. The policy implications of a more decentralized highway finance system are discussed in the closing section of the article.
Consumo no Brasil: teoria da renda permanente, formação de hábito e restrição à liquidez

This article analyzes the behavior of aggregate consumption series in Brazil. As usual, the random walk hypothesis of consumption, derived theoretically from the life cycle/permanent income and rational expectations hypothesis (PIH), is tested. The Beveridge e Nelson (1981) decomposition indicates that the consumption series has a stochastic trend and a cyclical stationary component, incompatible with the PIH. This result is in line with Reis et alii (1998), who concluded that a large fraction of Brazilian people is credit constrained, which generates a common cycle between consumption and income. Following, we introduce habit formation in the preference of a representative consumer in order to attempt to produce a process of consumption compatible with the empirical evidence. However, such a process does not prove itself statistically significant amidst the possibility of credit constraint consumers.
Are Monthly Seasonals Real? A Three Century Perspective

Over 300 years of UK stock returns reveal that well-known monthly seasonals are sample specific. For instance, the January effect only emerges around 1830. Most months have had their 50 years of fame, showing the importance of long time series to safeguard against sample selection bias, noise, and data snooping. The overall conclusion is that monthly seasonals might simply be in the eye of the beholder. Copyright 2013, Oxford University Press.
Some Applicable Methods to Analyze and Optimize System Processes in Quality Management

© 2012 Kostogryzov et al., licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Some Applicable Methods to Analyze and Optimize System Processes in Quality Management
The Implications of Low R 2: Evidence from China

Motivated by the recent debate on the implications of low R 2 in the U.S. market, we conjecture that lower R 2 is more likely to be associated with noise and low pricing efficiency because stock price tracks its fundamentals more loosely in a less efficient stock market such as China. We conclude that, first, there is no significant difference in information content among stocks with high and low R 2. Second, both accruals anomaly and price momentum are much stronger among firms with lower R 2. Moreover, the price momentum effect is much stronger among stocks with higher DIS, a new proxy constructed to provide a direct description of noise in stock price.
Performance analysis in football: A critical review and implications for future research

Abstract This paper critically reviews existing literature relating to performance analysis (PA) in football, arguing that an alternative approach is warranted. The paper considers the applicability of variables analysed along with research findings in the context of their implications for professional practice. This includes a review of methodological approaches commonly adopted throughout PA research, including a consideration of the nature and size of the samples used in relation to generalisability. Definitions and classifications of variables used within performance analysis are discussed in the context of reliability and validity. The contribution of PA findings to the field is reviewed. The review identifies an overemphasis on researching predictive and performance controlling variables. A different approach is proposed that works with and from performance analysis information to develop research investigating athlete and coach learning, thus adding to applied practice. Future research should pay attention to the social and cultural influences that impact PA delivery and athlete learning in applied settings.
Cross-country differences in economic governance: Culture as a major explanatory factor

Mechanisms through which economic agents coordinate their activities differ dramatically across nations. These differences largely persist despite an increasing internationalization of economies. This thesis investigates the causes of differences in organ ation of industrial finance, in governance of industrial relations, and in processes of economic policy formation and implementation among industrialized Western countries. The analysis of potential explanations reveals that, in each case, the best explan ion for cross-country differences in governance mechanisms is provided by differences of national cultures. The ways in which economic interactions are governed prove to be very closely related to cultural characteristics of societies in which they take p ce. We investigate mechanisms through which national culture influences the character of mechanisms of economic governance.
Dividendveranderings in Suid-Afrika - Tekenend Van Die Verlede of Toekoms?

Abstract This study attempts to answer the question whether changes in dividends contain information about future and/or present changes in earnings as many dividend theories imply. Results show no significant support for the dividend theory. Also, the size of the dividend increases does not predict future earnings. A strong and consistent observation was that companies that had cut dividends show a growth in earnings in the following years. The results also indicate that companies that increase dividends are less likely to experience a drop in future earnings than those firms with similar earnings growth that do not change their dividends.
TARP Announcement, Bank Health, and Borrowers' Credit Risk

Theory suggests that unhealthy banks exhibit more pronounced flight-to-quality behavior during financial crises and, hence, the infusion of capital through unhealthy banks is less effective in relieving the liquidity shocks of vulnerable borrowers. We test these predictions by investigating how the financial health of leading US banks influenced their borrowers’ credit risk surrounding the announcement of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Changes in borrower credit risk, measured by credit default swap (CDS) spreads, should reflect the expected relief from liquidity shocks and other benefits of rescuing banks, such as maintaining the existing lending relationships. Consistent with the theory, prior to the TARP capital infusions, unhealthy banks’ borrowers with high leverage experienced a greater increase in their credit risk relative to similar healthy banks’ borrowers. Following the event, the CDS market anticipated less liquidity relief to these vulnerable unhealthy banks’ borrowers, but more liquidity relief to the vulnerable healthy banks’ borrowers.
Lentiviral mediated gene delivery to the anterior chamber of rodent eyes.

PURPOSE To study the in vivo efficiency of lentiviral vectors in delivering genes to the trabecular meshwork (TM) of rodent eyes. METHODS Lentiviral vectors were constructed using the elongation factor 1 alpha (EF-1alpha) promoter driving expression of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene. The viral construct was injected intracamerally through the peripheral cornea into the anterior chamber of live rodent eyes. Several variables were evaluated to determine the optimal conditions for TM cell transduction. These parameters included viral concentration, injection volume, needle rotation, and the modulation of anterior chamber current convections. Changes in intraocular pressures (IOPs) were monitored using a Tonopen XL. Signs of inflammation and corneal neovascularization were evaluated by slit lamp observation. Three weeks after injection, the eyes were enucleated and analyzed for GFP expression and distribution. RESULTS A single intracameral viral dose between 10(7) and 10(8) pfu produced a high and evenly distributed expression of GFP in the TM and corneal endothelial cells. The cornea remained clear and no signs of inflammation were present during the course of the experiment. Moreover, no significant changes in IOPs were observed. CONCLUSIONS A high transduction efficiency of TM and corneal endothelial cells can be effectively obtained after a single dose of recombinant lentivirus. The EF-1alpha promoter induces high expression of the reporter gene and is a reliable alternative to the CMV promoter when stable, long term expression is desired.