Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mycobacterium avium‐induced matrix metalloproteinase‐9 expression occurs in a cyclooxygenase‐2‐dependent manner and involves phosphorylation‐ and acetylation‐dependent chromatin modification

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) contribute to the matrix‐degrading phenotype of mycobacterial diseases. Considering that MMPs could contribute to the mutual exacerbation of both Mycobacterium avium and HIV in coinfections, it is of importance to understand the mechanisms of M. avium‐induced MMP induction. Focusing on MMP‐9, our work demonstrates that a cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2)‐dependent signalling loop is critical for activation of MMP‐9 transcription in RAW264.7 cells and murine bone marrow‐derived macrophages. M. avium‐stimulated MMP‐9 induction involves the p65 and p50 subunits of NF‐κB and the c‐Fos and c‐jun subunits of AP‐1. The c‐Fos gene is upregulated in a MEK1‐dependent manner in M. avium‐challenged macrophages. M. avium‐induced MMP‐9 gene induction requires the histone acetyltransferase p300 and chromatin modifications involving phosphorylation of p65 at serine 276 and its acetylation at lysines 221 and 310. At the same time, histone H3 modified by mitogen and stress‐activated protein kinase 1 (MSK1)‐dependent phosphorylation on serine 10 and by acetylation on lysine 14, typical signatures linked to transcriptional activation, also associates with the MMP‐9 promoter following M. avium challenge. Taken together, our results show that co‐ordinated post‐translational modifications of p65 and histone H3 involving phosphorylation and acetylation drive COX‐2‐dependent transcriptional activation of the MMP‐9 gene in response to challenge of macrophages with M. avium.
External cephalic version with salbutamol - success rate and predictors of success.

OBJECTIVE To determine the success rate of External Cephalic Version (ECV) with 0.25 mg Salbutamol in singleton term breech and to identify the predictors of success. STUDY DESIGN Quasi experimental study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Mother and Child Health Centre, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, from January 2000 to March 2005. METHODOLOGY Women, presenting with uncomplicated breech, between 37-40 completed weeks gestation, underwent ECV in day care ward. Fifteen minutes before the procedure, injection salbutamol 0.25 mg was administered subcutaneously. Cases with contraindication to ECV or Salbutamol injection were excluded from the study. The outcome measures included success rate of ECV (in terms of conversion from breech to cephalic presentation at the completion of procedure confirmed through ultrasound), association of maternal and fetal demographic characteristics with successful version and adverse effects related to the procedure in terms of fetal bradycardia, ante-partum still birth, antepartum hemorrhage and preterm labour. Rate of reversion to breech and drug-related side effects were also recorded as secondary outcome measures. Chi-square test was used for categorical variables and independent sample t-test for continuous variables. RESULTS Of the 101 ECV procedures, 41 (40.5%) were successful. Success rate was significantly lower in nullipara (p=0.01) and with AFI 7 cm or less (p=0.04). No significant association was found between success rate and gestational age (p=0.35) or fetal birth weight (p=0.57). None of the patient suffered from serious maternal complications. Salbutamol related minor effects (tremors, anxiety and palpitations) were observed in 36 (35.6%) patients. Fetal tachycardia was seen in 17 (16.8%), reversible fetal bradycardia in 3 (2.9%) and intractable fetal bradycardia in one patient. CONCLUSION External cephalic version with 0.25 mg Salbutamol was safe and a feasible option in term breech presentation in this series. Administration of tocolytic agent improved the success rate and reduced complication rate of the procedure. Major determinants of success were amniotic fluid index and parity.
Evaluation of Several Nonparametric Bootstrap Methods to Estimate Confidence Intervals for Software Metrics

Sample statistics and model parameters can be used to infer the properties, or characteristics, of the underlying population in typical data-analytic situations. Confidence intervals can provide an estimate of the range within which the true value of the statistic lies. A narrow confidence interval implies low variability of the statistic, justifying a strong conclusion made from the analysis. Many statistics used in software metrics analysis do not come with theoretical formulas to allow such accuracy assessment. The Efron bootstrap statistical analysis appears to address this weakness. In this paper, we present an empirical analysis of the reliability of several Efron nonparametric bootstrap methods in assessing the accuracy of sample statistics in the context of software metrics. A brief review on the basic concept of various methods available for the estimation of statistical errors is provided, with the stated advantages of the Efron bootstrap discussed. Validations of several different bootstrap algorithms are performed across basic software metrics in both simulated and industrial software engineering contexts. It was found that the 90 percent confidence intervals for mean, median, and Spearman correlation coefficients were accurately predicted. The 90 percent confidence intervals for the variance and Pearson correlation coefficients were typically underestimated (60-70 percent confidence interval), and those for skewness and kurtosis overestimated (98-100 percent confidence interval). It was found that the Bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap approach gave the most consistent confidence intervals, but its accuracy depended on the metric examined. A method for correcting the under-/ overestimation of bootstrap confidence intervals for small data sets is suggested, but the success of the approach was found to be inconsistent across the tested metrics.
FRAÏSSÉ LIMITS OF C*-ALGEBRAS

Abstract We realize the Jiang-Su algebra, all UHF algebras, and the hyperfinite II1 factor as Fraïssé limits of suitable classes of structures. Moreover by means of Fraïssé theory we provide new examples of AF algebras with strong homogeneity properties. As a consequence of our analysis we deduce Ramsey-theoretic results about the class of full-matrix algebras.
Face-to-Face, Buzz, and Knowledge Bases: Sociospatial Implications for Learning, Innovation, and Innovation Policy

Whilst concurring with the new streams of literature in geography that highlight the importance of face-to-face and ‘buzz’ in the globalizing learning economy, we argue that this literature is misleading on three interrelated counts. Firstly, it conflates face-to-face and buzz; secondly, it fails to distinguish between the importance of face-to-face and buzz for industries drawing on different knowledge bases; and, thirdly, these conceptual inadequacies lead to an exaggeration of the importance of cities as sites for creativity and innovation, and hence regional competitiveness. By applying an industrial knowledge base approach, we seek to reconstruct an alternative framework that allows for a systematic differentiation between the importance of face-to-face and buzz for different industries. This provides a framework for developing a more nuanced understanding of the spatial implications of face-to-face communication and buzz for learning and innovation.
The Blue Ocean that disappeared – the case of Nintendo Wii

Purpose – The purpose with this article is to analyze the “Blue Ocean” phenomenon in depth. The goal is to better understand the underlying dynamic strategies in the form of interactions between theory and management practices. Design/methodology/approach – Single case study, Nintendo, which strategy is being confronted with the strategies of the two competitors, Sony and Microsoft. This is done in order to distinguish the value propositions of the three players in the game console industry Findings – The main finding is that even if a company can create a Blue Ocean very fast with the right value proposition at the right time, it may be short-termed and may be transformed into a Red Ocean again within 1-2 years, unless the company's competitiveness is safe-guarded. Practical implications – The results show, that Nintendo started out with a Red Ocean around 2005 with their GameCube. Then they turned it into a Blue Ocean with their introduction of “Wii” in November 2006. But Nintendo could not prevent Sony.
Understanding Russian Regions' Economic Performance During Periods of Decline and Growth - An Extreme Bound Analysis Approach

This article uses “extreme-bound”-type analysis to revisit the determinants behind the widely differing economic growth in Russian regions prior to the recent global financial crisis. Using data of regional growth in 1995–2006 for 77 Russian regions, it examines the growth drivers for the phase of economic decline up to 1998 and for the period of strong growth afterwards separately. Looking at forty variables considered to be potentially related to growth, it determines, for each of the two periods, the ones robustly associated with Russian economic performance. Among the variables considered are proxies of politico-institutional features, indicators of economic reform, and measurements of both economic and non-economic initial conditions. The main findings are as follows: during the period of economic decline up to 1998, differences in Russian regional growth were almost entirely driven by initial conditions, with resource and human capital endowments, industrial structure, and geographical location playing the dominant roles. However, after the 1998 crisis, the importance of initial conditions declined and was basically reduced to fuel production, advantageous geographical location, and population structure. There is also some evidence that more reform-oriented policies and better regional leadership made a difference. These results could be seen as pointing to determinants of economic performance in periods of actual economic decline being different from those in normal times of economic growth.
The impact of electronic trading on bid‐ask spreads: Evidence from futures markets in Hong Kong, London, and Sydney

During 1999 and 2000, three major futures exchanges transferred trading in stock index futures from open outcry to electronic markets: the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE); the Sydney Futures Exchange (SFE); and the Hong Kong Futures Exchange (HKFE). These changes provide unique natural experiments to compare relative bid‐ask spreads of open outcry vs. electronically traded markets. This paper provides evidence of a decrease in bid‐ask spreads following the introduction of electronic trading, after controlling for changes in price volatility and trading volume. This provides support for the proposition that electronic trading can facilitate higher levels of liquidity and lower transaction costs relative to floor traded markets. However, bid‐ask spreads are more sensitive to price volatility in electronically traded markets, suggesting that the performance of electronic trading systems deteriorates during periods of information arrival. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 24:675–696, 2004
Does Accessibility to Higher Education Matter

This paper identifies pivotal factors behind individual decision-making in the transition from high school to post-secondary education in the Netherlands. We apply a multinomial logit framework to individual data on post-secondary education choices. Specifically, our modeling approach accommodates two types of effects that have not received ample attention in the literature. First, we include information regarding the geographical accessibility of the higher education system. Second, we allow the individual observations to be correlated within schools in order to account for localized social interactions. Our results confirm the paramount influence of the student’s track record and talent. The results, however, also show that geographical proximity to universities or professional colleges significantly increases the probability of high school leavers continuing their education at the post-secondary level. JEL classifications: C25, I21, R10
The market share–profitability relationships in the securities industry

The market share–profitability relationships have been one of the most widely studied subjects in the management literature. Although it has long been argued that firms with high market shares are usually with high profitability, debates and disagreements exist mainly due to sampling, definitional, and measurement problems in existing studies. To avoid several biases often made in prior studies, this paper re-examined the market share–profitability relationships by using firms in a highly homogeneous and fragmented industry, the securities industry, as the research sample. The empirical results indicate that, in the securities industry, market share and the growth of market share are positively associated with firm profitability. Findings of this paper reaffirm the conventional wisdom of the relationships between market share and profitability.
Company performance in Malaysia after the 1997 economic crisis: Using Economic Value Added (EVA) as a predictor

Malaysia was hit by an economic crisis in 1997, and the entire Southeast Asia was also gripped by an economic crisis of formidable proportions. At first, it was limited to Thailand's financial sector, but it quickly grew to engulf Malaysia, Indonesia and South Korea as well. This study evaluated the post-economic crisis period and whether or not EVA, as a measurement tool, had a relationship with company performance and whether or not EVA developed a relationship with stock return better than the traditional performance tools. The panel pool single and multiple regression, together with the common and period specific coefficients least squares analysis and White’s heteroskedasticity-consistent (corrected) variances and standard errors were used in this study. With the help of the data collected after the economic crisis in Malaysia, the study found that EVA per share could predict company performance better than traditional tools. Key words: Economic Value Added (EVA), economic crisis, quantitative performance, stock return, traditional tool.
A Comparison of Malware Detection Techniques Based on Hidden Markov Model

Malware is a software which is designed with an intent to damage a network or computer resources. Today, the emergence of malware is on boom letting the researchers develop novel techniques to protect computers and networks. The three major techniques used for malware detection are heuristic, signature-based, and behavior based. Among these, the most prevalent is the heuristic based malware detection. Hidden Markov Model is the most efficient technique for malware detection. In this paper, we present the Hidden Markov Model as a cutting edge malware detection tool and a comprehensive review of different studies that employ HMM as a detection tool.
Response rate accuracy in oncology trials: reasons for interobserver variability. Groupe Français d'Immunothérapie of the Fédération Nationale des Centres de Lutte Contre le Cancer.

PURPOSE We evaluated the impact of an evaluation committee (EC) on patients' overall response status in a large multicenter trial in oncology. We identified reasons for disagreements between investigators and the EC. MATERIALS AND METHODS The Cancer Renal Cytokine (CRECY) study was a French multicenter trial that tested cytokine therapy in 489 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Objective response (OR) evaluation included medical imaging and was studied according to international guidelines. A blinded peer review of all responders and litigious cases was performed by an EC. RESULTS Major disagreements occurred in 40% and minor disagreements in 10.5% of the reviewed files. The number of significant tumor responses was reduced by 23.2% after review by the EC. Reasons for disagreements included errors in tumor measurements, errors in selection of measurable targets, intercurrent diseases, and radiologic technical problems. These reasons for disagreements are analyzed and discussed. CONCLUSION We conclude that all therapeutic trial results should be reviewed by peer analysis of all presumed responders by an EC. International guidelines for response evaluation should be updated by including more reliable methods of measurements and definition of minimal imaging procedures.
Caffeine intake, tolerance, and withdrawal in women: a population-based twin study.

OBJECTIVE Caffeine is by far the most commonly consumed psychoactive substance. The use and abuse of most other licit and illicit psychoactive drugs have been shown to be substantially heritable. However, the impact of genetic factors on caffeine consumption, heavy use, intoxication, tolerance, and withdrawal is largely unknown. METHOD Caffeine consumption, in the form of brewed coffee, instant coffee, tea, and caffeinated soft drinks, as well as caffeine intoxication, tolerance, and withdrawal, were assessed by personal interviews of 1,934 individual twins from female-female pairs ascertained from the population-based Virginia Twin Registry. The sample included both members of 486 monozygotic and 335 dizygotic pairs. Twin resemblance was assessed by probandwise concordance, odds ratios, and tetrachoric correlations. Biometrical model fitting was also performed. RESULTS The resemblance in twin pairs for total caffeine consumption, heavy caffeine use, caffeine intoxication, caffeine tolerance, and caffeine withdrawal was substantially greater in monozygotic than in dizygotic twin pairs. Model fitting suggested that twin resemblance for these measures could be ascribed solely to genetic factors, with estimated broad heritabilities of between 35% and 77%. CONCLUSIONS Caffeine is an addictive psychoactive substance. Similar to previous findings with other licit and illicit psychoactive drugs, individual differences in caffeine use, intoxication, tolerance, and withdrawal are substantially influenced by genetic factors.
Assembly of Synthetic Locked Chromophores with Agrobacterium Phytochromes Agp1 and Agp2*

Phytochromes are photoreceptors with a bilin chromophore in which light triggers the conversion between the red-absorbing form Pr and the far-red-absorbing form Pfr. Agrobacterium tumefaciens has two phytochromes, Agp1 and Agp2, with antagonistic properties: in darkness, Agp1 converts slowly from Pfr to Pr, whereas Agp2 converts slowly from Pr to Pfr. In a previous study, we have assembled Agp1 with synthetic locked chromophores 15Za, 15Zs, 15Ea, and 15Es in which the C15=C16 double bond is fixed in either the E or Z configuration and the C14–C15 single bond is fixed in either the syn (s) or anti (a) conformation. In the present study, the locked chromophores 5Za and 5Zs were used for assembly with Agp1; in these chromophores, the C4=C5 double bond is fixed in the Z configuration, and the C5–C6 single bond is fixed in either the syn or anti conformation. All locked chromophores were also assembled with Agp2. The data showed that in both phytochromes the Pr chromophore adopts a C4=C5 Z C5–C6 syn C15=C16 Z C14–C15 anti stereochemistry and that in the Pfr chromophore the C15=C16 double bond has isomerized to the E configuration, whereas the C14–C15 single bond remains in the anti conformation. Photoconversion shifted the absorption maxima of the 5Zs adducts to shorter wavelengths, whereas the 5Za adducts were shifted to longer wavelengths. Thus, the C5–C6 single bond of the Pfr chromophore is rather in an anti conformation, supporting the previous suggestion that during photoconversion of phytochromes, a rotation around the ring A-B connecting single bond occurs.
Oxygen Consumption by Portal Vein-Drained Organs and by Whole Animal in Conscious Growing Swine

Abstract A method was developed to measure simultaneously the O2 consumption (VO) by the whole animal and by the hepatic portal vein-drained organs (PVDO), including the gastrointestinal tract, spleen, and pancreas in conscious 3.5- to 4-month-old swine. The method was used to determine (i) the effect of feeding on hepatic portal vein blood flow rate (Qpv) and VO by PVDO and by the whole animal, and (ii) the significance of PVDO on the oxidative demand in the pig. Chronic cannulas were placed in the hepatic portal vein, carotid artery, and ileal vein. The Qpv was determined by an indicator dilution technique employing continuous constant infusion of 1% ρ-aminohippuric acid into the ileal vein. The VO2 by PVDO was estimated by multiplying Qpv by arterial-portal vein O2 difference measured with an arterial-venous O2 difference analyzer connected to the carotid artery and portal vein cannulas. Whole animal VO2 was measured with an open circuit indirect calorimeter. In seven pigs (3.5- to 4-month-old, 37.4 ± 0.8 kg) trained to be fed once daily, feeding (1.2 kg of feed mixed with 1.2 liter of H2O) caused postprandial (6 hr) Qpv to increase more than 34 ± 15% above the preprandial value of 34.5 ± 4.2 ml · min-1 · kg-1 body wt. The postprandial VO2 by PVDO was elevated more than 46 ± 12% above the value of 1.52 ± 0.20 ml · min-1 · kg-1 body wt observed during the preprandial period. Whole animal VO2 increased 45 ± 9 and 33 ± 7% above the preprandial value of 6.23 ± 0.57 ml · min-1 · kg-1 body wt for the first 6 hr and the 7 to 12 hr after feeding, respectively.
Traditional Healers' Perceptions of Smokeless Tobacco Use and Health in the Limpopo Province of South Africa

Traditional healers (THs) exert a significant influence in indigenous South African communities, where smokeless tobacco (SLT) use and dependence is common among women. This study was conducted during 2002. It sought to explore THs' beliefs about SLT use and its health effects. In-depth interviews were conducted with 28—mostly female (68%)—registered THs, with a mean age of 55 years and with an average of 17 years of practice experience. These listed THs were randomly selected from two culturally diverse regions of the (largely rural) Limpopo Province in South Africa. The THs perceive the ritual (external) use of SLT as an absolute necessity in divination, but 32% have also prescribed its ‘internal’ use to their clients, usually following a “directive from the ancestors. ” Almost all the THs who themselves regularly consume SLT condemned the recreational use of SLT and believe that SLT is addictive. However, 39% of them claimed to be able to treat addiction resulting from tobacco use not sanctioned by the ancestors. This study has identified opportunities for enlisting THs' collaboration in future community-based tobacco dependence interventions.
SEOs in a ‘Hot Market’: evidence of timing

This study analyses the financing decision of raising equity through a rights issue in a developing market, the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), during a particular emerging period. Specifically, this study examines the information content of accounting items derived from published financial statements the year prior to a ‘hot’ period in explaining post-issue stock price performance. We are using data from listed companies in the ASE during the ‘hot period’ of year 1999 when stock prices burst and an unusual large number of seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) took place. Our empirical results do not verify a statistically significant relationship between discretionary accruals in the year preceding the issue and post-issue stock returns. Moreover, historical accounting items do not provide value relevant information and cannot be used to explain post-issue stock returns. Market trend prior to the issuing is proved to be the only significant variable in explaining post SEO returns. The overall findings are in line with the market timing theory which claims that managers just time their equity issues in an upward moving market in order to increase the offering proceeds.