Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Insulin Rescues Retinal Neurons from Apoptosis by a Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/Akt-mediated Mechanism That Reduces the Activation of Caspase-3*

The ability of insulin to protect neurons from apoptosis was examined in differentiated R28 cells, a neural cell line derived from the neonatal rat retina. Apoptosis was induced by serum deprivation, and the number of pyknotic cells was counted. p53 and Akt were examined by immunoblotting after serum deprivation and insulin treatment, and caspase-3 activation was examined by immunocytochemistry. Serum deprivation for 24 h caused ∼20% of R28 cells to undergo apoptosis, detected by both pyknosis and activation of caspase-3. 10 nm insulin maximally reduced the amount of apoptosis with a similar potency as 1.3 nm (10 ng/ml) insulin-like growth factor 1, which acted as a positive control. Insulin induced serine phosphorylation of Akt, through the phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase pathway. Inhibition of PI 3-kinase with wortmannin or LY294002 blocked the ability of insulin to rescue the cells from apoptosis. SN50, a peptide inhibitor of NF-κB nuclear translocation, blocked the rescue effect of insulin, but neither insulin or serum deprivation induced phosphorylation of IκB. These results suggest that insulin is a survival factor for retinal neurons by activating the PI 3-kinase/Akt pathway and by reducing caspase-3 activation. The rescue effect of insulin does not appear to be mediated by NF-κB or p53. These data suggest that insulin provides trophic support for retinal neurons through a PI 3-kinase/Akt-dependent pathway.
Recommendation Value on an Emerging Market: the Impact of Analyst' Recommendations on Stock Prices and Trading Volumes in Tunisia

Financial analysts issue "buy", "sell" or "hold" recommendation about stocks. Recommendations have value if investors trade upon them, which should affect prices and trading volumes. We use the methodology of event study to analyze price and volume reaction to the recommendation release. With a database of 6646 recommendations about 55 companies on the Tunisian Stock Exchange (BVMT) from 2005 to 2009, we show that prices and volumes react significantly to recommendations level. However, we only provide a weak evidence of reaction to changes in recommendations. We explain this result by a special feature of this market place: the systematic release of monthly recommendations, in contrast to developed markets where new recommendations are issued only if new information is available. This can focus investors on the confirmation of the recommendation, rather than on their revisions. We also find a special feature of emerging stock markets, which is that volumes are abnormally low for most of the event period following a "sell" or "hold" recommendation, whereas in that case they are abnormally high in more liquid markets.
A Structural Equation Modeling to explain school students' intentions to use bioenergy: An Indian case

The study applied the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model to predict high school students' intentions to use bioenergy in India. TPB is one of the most widely cited and applied theories in explaining human behaviors in environmental matters. In the TPB model, intention to act is primarily determined by three psychological constructs: Attitude towards the behavior, Subjective Norm (SN) and Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC). Data were collected from 130 students studying in ninth and tenth grades in three schools in New Delhi and Bengaluru. The mean age of the students was 14.66 years (SD=0.76). Structural Equation Modeling with Amos 21 software was used in the study. The constructed TPB model was able to explain 71% (R2=.71) of the variance in the students' intentions to use bioenergy. The structural model also showed overall acceptable fit to the data. It appeared that SN was the only independent variable that had the strongest and statistically significant positive impact on the Indian students' intentions to use bioenergy. Other independent variables such as Attitude and PBC showed insignificant and negligible effects on the students' intentions to use bioenergy. The results indicated that social factors would be the main determinant of the Indian students' intentions to use bioenergy, whereas the personal factors (i.e. Attitude and PBC) would be irrelevant. Findings from the study could be useful for bioenergy policy makers and researchers in the field of environmental psychology.
The Demand for Currency Substitution Economics : The Open-Access

A transactions model of the demand for multiple media of exchange is developed. Some results are expected, and others are both new and surprising. There are both extensive and intensive margins to currency substitution, and inflation may affect the two margins differently, leading to subtle incentives to adopt or abandon a substitute currency. Variables not previously considered in the literature affect currency substitution in complex and somewhat unexpected ways. In particular, the level of income and the composition of consumption expenditures are important, and they interact with the other variables in the model. Independent empirical work provides support for the theory.
Maintenance of Sulfonylurea Responsiveness in NIDDM: Randomized Double-Blind Study of Intermittent Glyburide Therapy

Objective To assess the effectiveness of intermittent administration of sulfonylurea (glyburide) to patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Research Design and Methods A randomized, double-blind, prospective trial compared daily administration with intermittent administration of glyburide to patients who initially responded to the drug. Twenty-eight of 60 patients with NIDDM achieved the predetermined improvement in plasma glucose concentration on glyburide therapy. These 28 responders were enrolled into a 16-wk trial of daily versus intermittent (2 wk on, 2 wk off) glyburide treatment. Laboratory assessment of glycemic control and insulin secretion in fasting and 2-h postprandial states was done every 2 wk. Results Patients on continuous glyburide therapy maintained their glycemic control throughout the study. In contrast, patients on the intermittent schedule lost their glycemic control immediately after being placed on placebo. Despite a significant response to each sulfonylurea pulse, these subjects never regained their baseline glycemic levels. Their fructosamine and HbA1c concentrations deteriorated and remained significantly higher than those of the continuously treated subjects. Conclusions Results suggest that administration of glyburide on an intermittent basis after a 2-wk drug-free period to patients initially rendered responsive to sulfonylurea therapy is without clinical merit.
Do CEO Investors Engage in More Corporate Innovation?

This paper investigates whether CEOs that have active share trading accounts engage in higher levels of corporate innovation. Prior studies show that individuals who trade on the stock market are less financially conservative. We find that this behavioural attribute is consistent over both the individual and corporate domain. Corporations with a CEO that trade invest significantly more on research and development, have higher capital expenditure and make more acquisitions. We also find that CEOs with higher portfolio turnover engage in riskier forms of corporate innovation. The findings shed light on how shareholders can better align CEO preferences with their own. We contribute to the literature by enhancing the current understanding of what key attributes and traits motivate CEOs to promote corporate innovation.
Economic analysis of wheat production on family farms

Serbian agricultural producers are currently facing a large number of challenges which have a significant influence on their business activities. Continuous monitoring and evaluation of existing family farms business activities is the only way to improve their profitability and enhance competitiveness in such conditions. Bearing this in mind, the objective of this research is to emphasize an importance of the economic analysis of wheat production on family farms and to contribute successfully to the formulation of the answers to questions if and under which conditions the wheat production is profitable. In order to have a complete insight into investigated problem subject, investigations were carried out on selected family farms. Collected data were processed using calculation procedure for the purpose of determination of main economical indicators of the success of wheat production. Based on realized financial results it can be concluded that with the selling price of 10,000.00 diners per ton, only family farms which have achieved yield of over 7.5 t/ha with adequate level of investments are profitable. Since realized average yield of wheat on family farms in the Republic of Serbia in 2009 was 3.58 t/ha and level of investment necessary for realization of this yield, it is clear that the majority of family farms had loss in wheat production. The results of this study suggest that the economic status of the wheat production depends on the yield and achieved sales price, as well as on the amount of applied production factors and price level for their purchasing.
Antecedents and Outcomes of Marketing Strategy Comprehensiveness

Comprehensiveness has long been recognized as a key feature of marketing strategy decision making. However, few studies have examined its antecedents and the conditions under which it influences performance. This study attempts to contribute to a better understanding of marketing strategy by investigating project-level antecedents and outcomes of marketing strategy comprehensiveness (MSC). Drawing on contingency and institutional theories perspectives, the authors develop and test the effects of output and process rewards, task conflict, and project members’ intra- and extraindustry relationships on MSC. They find that whereas process reward and extraindustry relationships are positively related to MSC, task conflict (when combined with conflict avoidance) hinders its development. Furthermore, the results indicate that MSC has a more positive effect on performance when implementation speed is higher. Finally, the authors discover that technology and market uncertainties differentially moderate the relationship between MSC and performance; the former has a positive effect, and the latter has a negative effect. The authors also discuss the theoretical and practical implications of their findings.
State-feedback stabilization for high-order stochastic nonlinear systems without strict triangular conditions

For a class of high-order stochastic nonlinear systems which are neither necessarily feedback linearizable nor affine in the control variables without the strict triangular conditions, this paper studies the problem of state-feedback stabilization for the first time. The main contribution of this paper is the development of a systematic design approach for stochastic nonlinear systems in the absence of triangular conditions. This methodology enables us to remove the strict triangular conditions which have been the common assumption for global stabilization, and leads to a new result combining and generalizing the previous work. Finally, an illustrative example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control design methodology.
GM1 ganglioside treatment of Parkinson's disease

Article abstract—we performed an open-label study testing the effects of GM1 ganglioside on 10 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Patients received 1,000 mg of GM1 by IV infusion after the last of three baseline functional assessments. Patients then self-administered GM1 at a dose of 200 mg/d, by subcutaneous injection, for 18 weeks. Under these conditions, GM1 ganglioside proved to be safe and well tolerated. There were no serious adverse events and none of the patients developed elevated anti-GM1 antibody titers. Improvements on at least some functional measures were present in most patients, beginning after 4 to 8 weeks of GM1 treatment. When functional improvements occurred, they lasted for the duration of the study. These results suggest that GM1 ganglioside is well tolerated and may be a useful adjunct to the treatment of PD, and that a double-blind, placebo-controlled study is now warranted.
Dental service use among adults with human immunodeficiency virus infection.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection increases the importance of obtaining dental and oral health care. Dental care is necessary because oral health problems (such as abscessed teeth or nonvirulent periodontal disease) may cause pain, interfere with normal diet, and jeopardize health and quality of life.1 Without early detection and provision of effective treatment, oral opportunistic infections may have serious health consequences for immunocompromised patients.2-14 People with HIV and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) may face substantial barriers to needed dental services. Some dentists may be reluctant to provide care to infected people.15-22 People with HIV infection also may confront access barriers that affect Americans generally, including lack of private dental insurance coverage, and limited availability of publicly supported dental care.23-26 Prior reports of limited access to dental care lead to the expectation that use among people with HIV infection will be unlikely
Buying business services : towards a structured service purchasing process

Purpose – This paper aims to uncover the specific difficulties associated with buying services and proposes a structured purchasing process which can help organisational buyers to overcome the problems associated with services purchasing.Design/methodology/approach – The authors investigate the supposed differences between goods and services procurement by means of literature research and a questionnaire distributed among Dutch purchasing managers. Additionally, they draw on experiences from additional case study research and business practice to better understand the results of the survey and to further explore the actual process of buying services.Findings – The results of the literature review and the survey show that developing a proper specification is an important prerequisite for purchasing services successfully. Based on these findings, an expansion to the traditional purchasing process is proposed which incorporates the steps of pre‐selecting suppliers and detailing the initial specification.Rese.
Willingness to Pay and Competition in Online Auctions

The authors model how to measure consumer willingness to pay (WTP) using an English, or ascending first-price, auction based on two general bidding premises: No bidder bids more than his or her WTP, and no bidder allows a rival bidder to win at a price that he or she is willing to beat. In other words, the authors propose a “no-regret” rule in bidding. They impose no other restrictive assumptions on “maximands” or the bidders' behaviors in a competitive auction context. The authors model WTP as having two components: a pure product feature component and one based on the auction market environment. The latter includes bidder experience, seller reputation, and measures for competition among bidders and items. The proposed model is general enough to include a “buy-it-now” (equivalent to a posted price) auction mechanism. The authors use data on notebook auctions from one of the largest Internet auction sites in Korea. They find that most product characteristics matter in the expected ways. There are two additional primary findings: First, WTP declines as more similar items are concurrently listed with the focal item; there is an additional effect if these similar items also belong to the same brand. Therefore, market thickness matters for consumer WTP. Second, more extensive site surfing and bidding histories lead to lower WTP, implying that search costs and experience matter in bidding. As specific substantive benefits, the authors demonstrate how sellers can calculate changes in WTP and, thus, the expected revenue as the number of concurrently available similar items varies.
Prevalence and Correlates of Pre-Marital Fertility (Childbearing) among Unmarried Female Youths in Chamwino District in Central Tanzania

Fertility/childbearing among non-married female youths has been associated with several social problems to a female youth, as well as both social and health problems to a child (newborn). This study was carried out in Chamwino district in Central Tanzania between July to August, 2010 with the aim of identifying correlates of pre-marital fertility/childbearing among non-married female youths in a study area. Specific objectives of the study were to determine the extent of sexual and other risky behaviours and fertility among non-married female youths in the study area; identification of socio- demographic, and behavioral factors that are associated with pre- marital fertility among non-married female youths in the study area. This was a cross- sectional study that involved 202 non-married female youths aged between 12-24 years from four randomly selected villages from four randomly selected wards with one village from each ward. Data were analyzed for descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages; as well as Binary Multiple Logistic Regression for identification of factors associated with pre- marital fertility using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 12. Results of this study indicated sexual practices, risky behaviours and hence pre-marital fertility/ childbearing among non-married female youths in a study population existed at a substantial rate, with 75% of study participants reported to had ever had sex, and nearly a quarter (24%) of those who had ever had sex indicated to had ever given birth. Likelihood (chances) of having pre-marital fertility among non-married female youths increased with increase in age (Odds ratio (OR = 14.9-19.80, p 0.05). Based on these findings, recommendations to reduce prevalence of pre-marital fertility among non-married female youths in the study area have been indicated.
Measuring Customer Satisfaction with Service Quality Using American Customer Satisfaction Model (ACSI Model)

Service quality and customer satisfaction are very important concepts that companies must understand if they want to remain competitive and grow. In today’s competitive environment delivering high quality service is the key for a sustainable competitive advantage. Customer satisfaction does have a positive effect on an organization’s profitability. Satisfied customers form the foundation of any successful business as customer satisfaction leads to repeat purchase, brand loyalty, and positive word of mouth. The aim of this research was to apply the ACSI model in the context of service quality in the Macedonian mobile telecommunication industry in order to describe how customers perceive service quality and whether they are satisfied with services offered by T-Mobile, ONE, and VIP (three mobile telecom players). A structured questionnaire was developed from the ACSI model and was randomly distributed to the users of the three mobile operators to determine their satisfaction with service quality delivery in the Macedonian mobile telecommunication market. From the analysis carried out, it was found out that the overall service quality perceived by the customers was not satisfactory, that expectations were higher than perceptions. Customers were not satisfied with service. The results and findings will provide extra information concerning customers’ needs, wants and their satisfaction. It will also contribute to research since this study sets the ground for further research in measuring service quality in the service industries in Macedonia.
Towards Evaluation of Post Impact Braking Function in Driving Simulator

This paper presents a method to evaluate the vehicle Post Impact Braking function in driving simulator environment. This function is designed to apply automatic braking after an initial impact on the vehicle body. Four representative impact scenarios and three typical driving styles are investigated, assuming Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) is either functioned or malfunctioned. The performance of PIB is quantified by comparing certain post impact states when the function is enabled and disabled. The results show that PIB helps the drivers to lower the risk and severity of secondary collisions with respect to reduced displacements and road leaving speed, while it leads to higher risk for possible side collisions due to increased yaw angle, these influences seem to be more considerable when no ABS is available. Passive drivers are found to gain more benefits than Alert-Skilled drivers that it indicates full-braking can degrade the vehicle steer ability and thus the lateral and yaw responses to some extent.
Customer and Frontline Employee Influence on New Service Development Performance

Service firms recognize the key role that product and process innovation play in building and sustaining competitive advantage in the marketplace. This empirical study tests a model of new service development (NSD) that enhances performance outcomes by prescribing specific roles for customers and frontline employees in the NSD process. Findings are based on in-depth managerial interviews and survey data collected from 160 organizations across a variety of service sectors. The results support hypotheses that customer and frontline employee participation in specific stages of the NSD process indirectly affects sales performance and project development efficiency outcomes. Positive effects are mediated by the new service success factors of service marketability and launch preparation. To produce successful new services, firms should involve customers in the design and development stages to help identify market opportunities, generate and evaluate new service ideas, define desired benefits and features of the potential service, and provide extensive feedback for product and market testing. Frontline employees are less effective than previously thought as a source of new service ideas. Firms should instead focus on incorporating those personnel in the full launch stage to effectively promote and deliver the new service.