Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Altered Expression of Genes of the Bmp/Smad and Wnt/Calcium Signaling Pathways in the Cone-only Nrl-/- Mouse Retina, Revealed by Gene Profiling Using Custom cDNA Microarrays*

Many mammalian retinas are rod-dominant, and hence our knowledge of cone photoreceptor biology is relatively limited. To gain insights into the molecular differences between rods and cones, we compared the gene expression profile of the rod-dominated retina of wild type mouse with that of the cone-only retina of Nrl-/- (Neural retina leucine zipper knockout) mouse. Our analysis, using custom microarrays of eye-expressed genes, provided equivalent data using either direct or reference-based experimental designs, confirmed differential expression of rod- and cone-specific genes in the Nrl-/- retina and identified novel genes that could serve as candidates for retinopathies or for functional studies. In addition, we detected altered expression of several genes that encode cell signaling or structural proteins. Prompted by these findings, additional real-time PCR analysis revealed that genes belonging to the Bmp/Smad and Wnt/Ca2+ signaling pathways are expressed in the mature wild type retina and that their expression is significantly altered in the Nrl-/- retina. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis of adult retina identified Bmp4 and Smad4, which are down-regulated in the Nrl-/- retina, as possible direct transcriptional targets of Nrl. Consistent with these studies, Bmp4 and Smad4 are expressed in the mature rod photoreceptors of mouse retina. Modulation of Bmp4 and/or Smad4 by Nrl may provide a mechanism for integrating diverse cell signaling networks in rods. We hypothesize that Bmp/Smad and Wnt/Ca2+ pathways participate in cell-cell communication in the mature retina, and expression changes observed in the Nrl-/- retina reflect their biased utilization in rod versus cone homeostasis.
Pengaruh Profitabilitas, Leverage, Good Corporate Governance, Dan Ukuran Perusahaan Terhadap Nilai Perusahaan

Salah satu tujuan pendirian suatu perusahaan adalah untuk memaksimalkan nilai perusahaan serta menarik investor untuk menanamkan sahamnya. Sehingga untuk meningkatkan nilai perusahaan dapat dilihat dari kinerja keungan dan kinerja non keuangan. Faktor yang termasuk kedalam kinerja keuangan, yaitu profitabilitas, leverage, dan ukuran perusahaan, sedangkan yang termasuk kedalam non kinerja keuangan adalah good corporate governance. Good Corporate Governance (GCG) juga berperan sebagai sinergi yang saling mendukung pembentukan nilai perusahaan, dimana penerapan Good Corporate Governance (GCG) yang baik dalam perusahaan dapat tercermin dari skor CGPI yang diperoleh perusahaan tersebut. Namun berdasarkan fakta yang ada bahwa terdapat salah satu perusahaan yang terdaftar di BEI yang memiliki skor CGPI meskipun kinerja keuangaan perusahaan tersebut baik dan meningkat tiap tahunnya bahkan didukung dengan skor CGPI yang baik, namun hal tersebut tidak menjadikan nilai perusahaan tersebut meningkat. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah laporan keuangan perusahaan yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia yang memiliki skor CGPI periode 2010-2013. Berdasarkan kriteria penentuan sample terdapat 9 perusahaan yang diteliti selama 4 tahun. Metode analisis yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini menggunakan regresi linier berganda. Hasil penelitian ini secara simultan menunjukan adanya pengaruh signifikan antara profitabilitas, leverage, good corporate governance, dan ukuran perusahaan terhadap nilai perusahaan dan secara parsial menunjukan variabel profitabilitas berpengaruh signifikan terhadap nilai perusahaan. Namun, leverage, good corporate governance, dan ukuran perusahaan menunjukan tidak berpengaruh signifikan terhadap nilai perusahaan baik sebelum dan sesudah dimoderasi oleh GCG. Kata Kunci : Nilai Perusahaan, Profitabilitas, Leverage, Good Corporate Governance, dan Ukuran Perusahaan
Staff Restructuring: Old Methods, New Challenges

The number of staff restructuring processes has considerably increased worldwide in recent years, and their effects are increasingly dramatic. Furthermore, the global economic context is becoming more and more turbulent. All this poses a series of new challenges for firms that they will only be able to face if they utilize the traditional tools which are available to them. However, the research works about staff restructuring processes offer highly disparate results with regard to the effects of the methods used. This is precisely the reason which led us to focus the present work on analyzing those 'old methods' applied to restructuring with the aim of checking how they could be successfully utilized to cope with the 'new challenges' arising from this new economic context.
Quantitative and semi‐quantitative histopathological examination of renal biopsies in healthy individuals, and associations with kidney function

This study assesed the prevalence of histopathological changes in renal biopsies from healthy individuals, and the association with age, sex and smoking. Donor biopsies from 109 subjects were obtained from living kidney donors, and blood and urine samples were collected together with medical history. All biopsies were scored according to the Banff ‘97 classification with some modifications. The parameters included in this study were tubular atrophy, interstitial fibrosis, glomerulosclerosis, arteriosclerosis, arteriolohyalinosis and a sclerosis score. An alternative scoring system for tubular atrophy was examined (using ≤5% rather than <1% as a cut‐off for grade 0). Glomerular filtration rate was measured in most cases as chromium ethylenediaminetetra‐acetic acid (Cr‐EDTA) clearance. Age was a significant predictor for tubular atrophy, fibrosis and sclerosis. Pack‐years of smoking increased the risk of tubular atrophy, fibrosis and arteriolohyalinosis. The alternative scoring of tubular atrophy showed a stronger association with smoking, but a weaker association with age, compared with the original one. Limited histopathological changes are common in healthy kidney donors around 50 years of age with normal kidney function. We propose that a cut‐off of ≤5% yields a better definition of grade 0 tubular atrophy compared with the established cut‐off of >0%.
Colostrum TGF-beta-1 associates with the duration of breast-feeding.

BACKGROUND Several stressful environmental factors are associated with short-term breast-feeding. A high concentration of sodium in colostrum has predicted early failure. AIM OF THE STUDY We studied the association of growth factors in colostrum and the length of breast-feeding (BF). METHODS We measured concentrations of TGF-beta1 and -beta2; epidermal growth factor, total protein, and sodium and compared their concentrations in colostral samples from mothers who either breast-fed their infants exclusively less than 0.5 months (n = 109) or longer than 3.5 months (n = 119). RESULTS In the short BF group more mothers smoked and were primiparous more frequently and had less often a university education. They also provided the colostral samples significantly later than did those with long BF. Geometric mean concentration for TGF-beta1 was 1.9 times as high in the samples from short BF mothers as in those with long BF; significant difference remained in comparisons of samples taken equally long postpartum. Samples from the short BF group showed higher levels for sodium, TGF-beta2 and total protein, whereas concentrations of epidermal growth factor were similar between groups. CONCLUSIONS We thus infer that concentrations of factors in breast milk with an effect on the development and involution of the mammary gland, like TGF-beta1 in milk, may be one of many biological factors having an impact on the successful initiation of breast-feeding.
Performance Measurement and CG: New Perspective in Management Accounting

This study manages the required changes in PMSs to apply CG using Institutional Theory . The present study extends the scope of Institutional Theory by explaining how the change mechanisms impact to create and modify existing PMS. Therefore, a better understanding of the relationships between performance dimensions and CG factors in manufacturing companies is a key issue in this paper.Using Institutional Theory, this paper provides three change mechanisms result from CG; fairness, transparency, and responsibility. As well, a three factor model; Input-Process-Output is posited that comprises 15 measures of inputs, 13 measures of process and 12 measures of outputs. A questionnaire survey of 128 individuals was analyzed using statistical techniques. Furthermore, a case study is performed in an Egyptian company.The results show that there is a strong positive relationship between PMS and CG factors. Most of the individual measures in the proposed PMS have high importance. Further, there are significant differences between the degree of importance of input and output measures according to CG applying. Finally, the results of the case study prove the ability of the proposed model to shed light on the strength and weakness of organizational performance.This paper contributes to the performance measurement debate in manufacturing companies that implement CG practices. This study contributes to theory and practice by introducing a new perspective of PMS that explains the relationships between CG practices and the main dimensions of performance. Keywords: PMS, CG factors, institutional theory, Input-process-output approach, Quality-Will, Egypt
“You Don’t Have To Be Innovative In the Creative Industries” A Study of Entrepreneurial Orientation and Social Capital in Creative Industries

Competitiveness and performance of businesses in the creative industry have the disadvantage of resource management and development and entrepreneurial policies. Creative industries covering the fashion industry, design, and craft are industries that expected to be able to competewith the establishment of the Asian Economic Community (AEC) by 2015. To improve the capability to compete in the regionally and globally, internal capabilities such as Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) and social capitals (SC) of companies in the creative industry need to improve. Entrepreneurial Orientation has been the focus of many researchers and contributed significantly to the development of entrepreneurship literature over the decades. This fact supported by empirically significantfindings contributedby various researchersin the literature. However, up to the date there are many debates and require more research, specifically in the robustness of the dimensions within creative industries. The current research using Mixed Methods analyses tested the EO and SC model to 60 entrepreneurs in the creative industries within specific areasof fashion, design and crafting in Central Java regions. Findings suggested that in the creative industries, EO varied to those companies in manufacturing and technology industries. The current research contributed to the literatureby (1) modelling the EO in the creative industry, (2) confirming previous research findings on Entrepreneurship Orientation, (3) suggesting the source of competitive advantage in this industry, (4) social capital not adopted scientifically.However, these findings should require more extensive research and tested across regions. Hence, the directions for future research are implied in the research limitations section.
Supporting Command Reuse: Empirical Foundations and Principles

Abstract Current user interfaces fail to support some work habits that people naturally adopt when interacting with general-purpose computer environments. In particular, users frequently and persistently repeat their activities (e.g. command line entries, menu selections, navigating paths), but computers do little to help them to review and re-execute earlier ones. At most, systems provide ad hoc history mechanisms founded on the premise that the last few inputs form a reasonable selection of candidates for reuse. This paper provides theoretical and empirical foundations for the design of a reuse facility that helps people to recall, modify and re-submit their previous activities to computers. It abstracts several striking characteristics of repetitious behaviour by studying traces of user activities. It presents a general model of interaction called "recurrent systems". Particular attention is paid to the repetition of command lines given a sequential history list of previous ones, and this distribution can be conditioned in several ways to enhance predictive power. Reformulated as empirically-based general principles, the model provides design guidelines for history systems specifically and modern user interfaces generally.
Factors Affecting Customers Adoption of Mobile Banking Services

With the rapid advances in technology and changing demographics and life-style of people, the traditional branch banking is giving way to electronic banking (e-banking) and more recently mobile banking (m-banking). However, numbers suggest that the rate of acceptance of technology is quite low. In India, as quoted by an RBI report (Report of the Technical Committee on Mobile Banking, 2014), 64 banks have commenced mobile banking operations and there are 22 million active mobile banking users, which is roughly 5% of the total bank accounts. Lack of awareness, security concerns and technical issues are considered as the major reasons behind customer resistance to mobile banking services. Hence, it is pertinent for the service providers to understand and address the needs of customers so as to optimize their mobile banking experience. The current study aims at describing the usage patterns of mobile banking customers and identifying the factors which influence their usage of m-banking. For this purpose, a descriptive study was undertaken with a sample size of 200 bank account holders belonging to public as well as private sector banks, using m-banking. A structured questionnaire was administered on these respondents belonging to Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar districts of Gujarat during the period of January to March 2015. Going by the sample demographics, a typical m-banking customer in India is a young and literate male, belonging to the middle-income strata. The usage patterns of the customers suggest that as the frequency of transactions increases, people prefer the usage of ATMs. Security issues have deterred the customers from resorting to e-banking and m-banking options. Moreover, customers using m-banking find that the advantages lie in time-effectiveness, convenience, safety, operational simplicity and ease of navigation. These help in enriching their mobile-banking experience and have the potential to increase adoption of mobile banking.
Pharmacogenetic interaction between paraoxonase-1 gene promoter polymorphism C-107T and statin

Objective The aims of this study were to compare the impact of transcription factors, together with statin, on the paraoxonase promoter alleles defined by the C(−107T) polymorphism and to more clearly define regions of the paraoxonase promoter implicated in the actions of transcription factors. Methods Expression studies of promoter alleles were performed with reporter gene cassettes transfected into HepG2 cells, complemented by nuclease protection assays, electrophoretic mobility shift assays and statin therapy in patients. Results One region only of the minimal promoter fragment that up-regulates activity was protected by transcription factors and nuclear extracts. It spanned nucleotides −119 to −100, encompassing the C(−107)T polymorphism. Sp1 was effective alone in protecting this region, with its effect greatly enhanced by SREBP-2. The protective effect was much stronger for the C vs. T promoter allele. Expression studies confirmed the stimulatory influence of SREBP-2 was significantly stronger for the C promoter. Simvastatin up-regulated promoter activity of the C allele, but had a minor effect on the T allele. Hypercholesterolemic patients homozygous for the C allele showed a significant increase in serum paraoxonase-1 activity and mass during treatment with simvastatin, whereas patients homozygous for the T allele showed no increase. Conclusions The study has delimited the region responsive to transcription factors to a sequence surrounding the C(−107)T polymorphism of the paraoxonase-1 gene, and demonstrated an interaction at this sequence between Sp1 and SREBP-2. SREBP-2 and statin strongly up-regulated the C, but not the T allele. The results suggest a pharmacogenetic interaction between the promoter and simvastatin, which can influence serum paraoxonase in patients.
Graphical Tools for Assessing the Sensitivity of Response Surface Designs to Model Misspecification

When comparing different designs for an experiment, optimality criteria and other measures often depend on the correctness of the assumed model. In this article we develop and illustrate an approach for comparing designs given the potential effect of bias due to an underspecified model. We illustrate this approach using graphical summaries of the expected mean squared error (EMSE) that allow assessment of the robustness of designs to model misspecification. For response surface designs in cuboidal regions, the excellent performance of the central composite designs when the quadratic model is correct is tempered when bias is present. The Box–Behnken designs demonstrate superiority in the presence of missing cubic terms. For a screening design scenario, the amount of bias present leads to different conclusions as to which design is best.
Effects of Al-coagulant sludge characteristics on the efficiency of coagulants recovery by acidification

This study evaluated the effects of Al-coagulant sludge characteristics on the efficiency of coagulant recovery by acidification with H2SO4. Two sludge characteristics were studied: types of coagulant and textures of the suspended solid in raw water. The coagulant types are aluminium sulphate and polyaluminium chloride (PACl); the textures of the suspended solid are sand-based and clay-based. Efficiency of aluminium recovery at a pH of 2 was compared for different sludges obtained from water treatment plants in Taiwan. The results showed that efficiency of aluminium recovery from sludge containing clayey particles was higher than that from sludge containing sandy particles. As for the effect of coagulant types, the aluminium recovery efficiency for sludge using PACl ranged between 77% and 100%, whereas it ranged between 65% and 72% for sludge using aluminium sulphate as the coagulant. This means using PACl as the coagulant could result in higher recovery efficiency of coagulant and be beneficial for water treatment plants where renewable materials and waste reduction as the factors for making decisions regarding plant operations. However, other metals, such as manganese, could be released with aluminium during the acidification process and limit the use of the recovered coagulants. It is suggested that the recovered coagulants be used in wastewater treatment processes.
FT Protein Movement Contributes to Long-Distance Signaling in Floral Induction of Arabidopsis

In plants, seasonal changes in day length are perceived in leaves, which initiate long-distance signaling that induces flowering at the shoot apex. The identity of the long-distance signal has yet to be determined. In Arabidopsis, activation of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) transcription in leaf vascular tissue (phloem) induces flowering. We found that FT messenger RNA is required only transiently in the leaf. In addition, FT fusion proteins expressed specifically in phloem cells move to the apex and move long distances between grafted plants. Finally, we provide evidence that FT does not activate an intermediate messenger in leaves. We conclude that FT protein acts as a long-distance signal that induces Arabidopsis flowering.
Adaptive Design in Clinical Research: Issues, Opportunities, and Recommendations

The issues and opportunities of adaptive designs are discussed. Starting with the definitions of an adaptive design, its validity and integrity are discussed. The three key components of an adaptive design, i.e., Type I error control, p-value adjustment, and unbiased estimation and confidence interval are addressed. Various seamless designs are investigated. Recommendations are made in the following aspects: study planning, trial monitoring, analysis and reporting, trial simulation, and regulatory perspectives.
Lymphocyte and immature dendritic cell infiltrates in differentiated, poorly differentiated, and undifferentiated thyroid carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE Numerous studies indicate that papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC) with lymphocytic infiltrates are associated with a less extensive disease at diagnosis and improved disease-free survival. The infiltration of lymphocytes and immature CD1a+ dendritic cells (DC) was characterized in papillary, poorly differentiated (PDC), and undifferentiated (UC) carcinomas to evaluate their association with immunological infiltrates. DESIGN A series of 527 consecutive cases of thyroid carcinoma treated by total thyroidectomy were investigated by histopathological and immunohistochemical methods. The inflammatory infiltrate was quantified and typed in intratumoral and peritumoral tissues as well as in the controlateral lobe. MAIN OUTCOME The intratumoral infiltrate was strongly reduced or absent in PDC and UC. Intense infiltrates were detected in the PTC tall cell variant. In all histotypes, the extent of the intratumoral and peritumoral infiltrates was comparable. Immature DC were detected in PTCs and markedly reduced in PDC and UC. CD1a+ DCs were detected in a small percentage of PDC and UC. CONCLUSIONS Though a relationship between the extent of lymphocyte/DC infiltrates and the prognosis of PTCs could not be demonstrated, tumors with poor prognosis (PDCs, UCs) were characterized by markedly reduced lymphocyte/DC infiltrates. The study appears to confirm the protective role of DC and infiltrating lymphocytes against thyroid tumors.
Zwyczaje płatnicze konsumentów a możliwości ograniczenia obrotu gotówkowego w Polsce

Decreasing the cash in circulation is an important goal of macroeconomic policy. Cash in circulation generates huge costs and supports the development of the shadow economy. A main area in which cash is used is payments made by customers. The aim of the article is to grade customer payment habits (including their attitudes towards cash) and to check their willingness to move to cashless payments. The survey confirmed the strong attachment to cash and proved that it is thought to be the cheapest and most convenient payment instrument. Customers were much more critical in assessing the safety and speed of cash payments. Despite noting the advantages of alternative payment instruments, including innovative ones, consumers' willingness to shift their payment habits from cash to alternative cashless instruments was low.