Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Management characteristics, collaboration and innovative efficiency: evidence from UK survey data

This paper explores the impact of management characteristics and patterns of collaboration on a firmOs innovation performance in transforming innovation resources into commercially successful outputs. These questions are investigated using a recent firm level survey database for 465 innovative British small and medium enterprises (SMEs) over the years 1998-2001. Both Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) are employed to benchmark a firmOs innovative efficiency against best practice. Quality and the variety of innovations are taken into account by combining Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with DEA. We find evidence suggesting that the innovative efficiency of SMEs is significantly affected by their management characteristics and collaboration behaviour. Collaboration, organisational flexibility, formality in management systems and incentive schemes are found to contribute significantly to a firmOs innovative efficiency. Managerial share-ownership also shows some positive effect. The importance of these effects, however, varies across different sectors. WE find that innovative efficiency in high-tech SMEs is significantly enhanced by collaboration, formal management structure and training; and that in medium- and low-tech SMEs is significantly associated with managerial ownership, incentive schemes and organisational flexibility.
Post-partum follow-up of women with gestational diabetes mellitus: effectiveness, determinants, and barriers

Abstract Background: Despite the recommendations for postpartum blood glucose monitoring post gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM); scientific evidence reveals that these recommendations may not be fully complied to. This study aimed to follow-up women up to 2 years post-delivery with pregnancies complicated by GDM and healthy controls to assess this fact. Methods: Women with GDM (n = 78) and normal glucose tolerant (n = 89) delivered in 2014 were followed up for 2 years. They were informed and enquired via telephone about their blood glucose screening, physical activity, postpartum complications, and current weight status of mother and baby. Results: Women with previous GDM were older and reported higher body weight 2 years post-delivery. At the 2 year follow-up, n = 11 (14.1%) participants had developed diabetes, all with previous GDM. Both weight at birth (3.8 ± 0.5 kg) and at 2-year (10.7 ± 2.3 kg) for the babies born to GDM mothers was significantly higher than the NGT group babies (2.6 ± 0.63 and 7.1 ± 1.4 kg; p < .05). Only 27 women regularly opted for T2DM screening via monitoring blood glucose or HbA1c levels postpartum. The top reason for failed screening included: believing that GDM would disappear after delivery, and being occupied with the baby. Conclusions: The high incidence of T2DM in women with previous GDM is an alarming finding. Given this trend, systematic follow-up programs are needed to reduce obesity and diabetes risk.
Response to Comment on “Dynamics of Dpp Signaling and Proliferation Control”

Schwank et al. challenge the temporal growth model with an experiment in which Dpp signal transduction is abrogated. They claim that in this condition, cellular Dpp signaling levels do not increase over time but that cells do grow normally. We repeated this experiment and observed an increase of signaling over time. The results are consistent with a temporal model of growth control.
Rural Livelihood Diversification in West Bengal: Determinants and Constraints

The study conducted in the state of West Bengal has identified the determinants and constraints to livelihood diversification among different livelihood groups. The study has shown that household-head experience (age), educational level, social status, training, asset position, access to credit, rural infrastructure, agroclimatic condition and the overall level of economic development of a region are the main driving force towards livelihood diversification in the state. The study has also shown that several constraints act as obstacles to livelihood diversification but the nature of these constraints differ across regions and livelihood groups. The resource-poor are particularly vulnerable and unable to diversify because of the entry barriers imposed by their weak asset base. The main constraints faced by the households in diversified area are: poor asset base, lack of credit facilities, lack of awareness and training facilities, fear of taking risk, lack of rural infrastructure, and lack of opportunities in non-farm sector, while the main constraints in lessdiversified area are: poor transport facilities, poor asset base, unfavourable agro-climate, lack of credit facilities, lack of awareness and training, and lack of basic infrastructure. The study has suggested the need to develop a number of strategies especially for the poor people to facilitate successful livelihood diversification. This includes the development of rural infrastructure in terms of road, market, electrification, telecommunication, storage facilities, etc. and also institutional innovations to reduce entry costs and barriers to poor livelihood groups. A comprehensive development plan, including increasing the scope for non-farm activities, for the backward regions is most urgent.
Role of additional angiography and chemoembolization in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who achieved complete necrosis following transarterial chemoembolization

Background and Aims: Although transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) has been reported to have antitumor effects in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), optimal time schedules and follow‐up methods have not yet been determined. We therefore prospectively analyzed the effects of additional angiography and chemoembolization on HCC recurrence and survival in patients who underwent TACE and achieved complete necrosis (CN).
Environmental Impacts of Products: A Detailed Review of Studies

Environmental effects of economic activities are ultimately driven by consumption, via impacts of the production, use, and waste management phases of products and services ultimately consumed. Integrated product policy (IPP) addressing the life‐cycle impacts of products forms an innovative new generation of environmental policy. Yet this policy requires insight into the final consumption expenditures and related products that have the greatest life‐cycle environmental impacts. This review article brings together the conclusions of 11 studies that analyze the life‐cycle impacts of total societal consumption and the relative importance of different final consumption categories. This review addresses in general studies that were included in the project Environmental Impacts of Products (EIPRO) of the European Union (EU), which form the basis of this special issue. Unlike most studies done in the past 25 years on similar topics, the studies reviewed here covered a broad set of environmental impacts beyond just energy use or carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The studies differed greatly in basic approach (extrapolating LCA data to impacts of consumption categories versus approaches based on environmentally extended input‐output (EEIO) tables), geographical region, disaggregation of final demand, data inventory used, and method of impact assessment. Nevertheless, across all studies a limited number of priorities emerged. The three main priorities, housing, transport, and food, are responsible for 70% of the environmental impacts in most categories, although covering only 55% of the final expenditure in the 25 countries that currently make up the EU. At a more detailed level, priorities are car and most probably air travel within transport, meat and dairy within food, and building structures, heating, and (electrical) energy‐using products within housing. Expenditures on clothing, communication, health care, and education are considerably less important. Given the very different approaches followed in each of the sources reviewed, this result hence must be regarded as extremely robust. Recommendations are given to harmonize and improve the methodological approaches of such analyses, for instance, with regard to modeling of imports, inclusion of capital goods, and making an explicit distinction between household and government expenditure.
A Fast Blind Channel Estimation Method For ZP-OFDM Systems

We develop an adaptive blind channel estimation method for an OFDM system using zero padding based on the minimum noise subspace. By applying the gradient method, a new adaptive algorithm is derived that have a number of attractive properties such as low computational complexity and good numerical stability. We extend the idea of spatial diversity for the proposed system to obtain high performance in the presence of additive channel noise. A suitable pre-FFT zero-forcing linear equalizer is also proposed. It is shown that the proposed method is computationally more efficient than existing systems and is consider as a powerful tools for the spatial diversity
Cross-layer flooding for sensor networks without location information

Flooding algorithm is one of the most significant algorithms used in sensor networks. Although simple, this algorithm causes a large amount of energy and bandwidth to be wasted. The most important application of flooding is RREQ flooding in initial step of most routing algorithms. Although simple, this algorithm causes a large amount of energy and bandwidth to be wasted. Most previous efficient flooding algorithms use location information, which is impossible for simple node in sensor network. Some others are not suitable for RREQ flooding due to eliminating redundant retransmissions. We present a modified flooding that simultaneously decreases energy consumption as well as network delay. This flooding algorithm is a form of cross layer algorithm which uses physical layer information to be more efficient in time and energy. It is shown that the proposed algorithm can save a significant amount of energy while reducing the settling time delay
Toward the evaluation of function in genetic variability: Characterizing human SNP frequencies and establishing BAC‐transgenic mice carrying the human CYP1A1_CYP1A2 locus

Interindividual differences in human CYP1A1 and CYP1A2 expression appear to be associated with variability in risk toward various types of environmental toxicity and cancer. These two genes are oriented head‐to‐head on human chromosome 15; the 23.3‐kb spacer region might contain distinct regulatory regions for CYP1A1 and distinct regulatory regions for CYP1A2, or the regulatory regions for the two genes might overlap one another. From 24 unrelated subjects of five major, geographically‐isolated subgroups, we resequenced both genes (all exons and all introns) plus some 3′ flanking sequences and the entire spacer region (39.6 kb total); 85 SNPs were found, 49 of which were not currently in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database. Of the 57 double‐hit SNPs, we carried out SNP‐typing in 94 Africans, 96 Asians, and 83 Caucasians and found striking ethnic differences in SNP frequencies and haplotype evolution; the two CYP1A1 SNPs and the one CYP1A2 SNP that are most commonly used in epidemiological studies were shown not to be representative haplotype tag SNPs across these three human subgroups. Four BAC‐transgenic mouse lines, carrying the human CYP1A2 and 15,190 bp of 5′ flank, expressed only negligible basal or inducible CYP1A2 mRNA. A fifth BAC‐transgenic mouse line, carrying both the human CYP1A1 and CYP1A2 genes and ample amounts of 3′ flanking sequences, plus all of the spacer region––in the absence of the mouse Cyp1a1 or Cyp1a2 genes––expressed the human CYP1A1 and CYP1A2 mRNA, protein and enzyme activities in liver and nonhepatic tissues very similar to that of the mouse. Comparison of this hCYP1A1_1A2 transgenic line with hCYP1A1_1A2 lines carrying other common human haplotypes will enable us to evaluate function in human CYP1A1_CYP1A2 locus variability, with regard to toxicity and cancer caused by combustion products. Hum Mutat 25:196–206, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Student Research Paper: Evaluation of the Dependability of Critical Infrastructures Using Hybrid Petri Nets with Random Variables and Stochastic Simulation

The focus of my Phd project is on the evaluation of the dependability of critical infrastructures, e.g. energy distribution and gas networks. The modeling formalism of hybrid Petri nets with random variables forms the basis of our modeling approach. We plan to rigorously evaluate dependability using discrete-event simulation and methods of Statistical Model Checking and extend existing approaches with methods of rare-event simulation.
Marked splenic hyperaemia during post‐haemorrhagic hypotension in the rat, rabbit and cat.

1. The regulation of the splenic perfusion during normal and pathological conditions is incompletely understood. We studied the time course of splenic blood flow during the initial (0‐24 h) development of haemorrhagic anaemia in awake and anaesthetized rats, as well as in awake rabbits and cats. Another group of rats had either normovolaemic anaemia or beginning polycythaemia. 2. The microsphere method was used to measure splenic blood flow. The awake rats were rendered anaemic either by a heavy (1.5% of body weight) or a moderate (0.7% of body weight) bleeding (hypovolaemia), by haemolysis (normovolaemia) or by bleeding (1.5% of body weight) followed by transfusion of autologous plasma (normovolaemia). Polycythaemia was induced with injections of erythropoietin. The anaesthetized rats as well as the awake rabbits and cats were also bled heavily (1.5% of body weight). 3. In awake rats, splenic blood flow increased to 215% of control within the first 5 min after bleeding. The perfusion declined nearly to baseline over the next 24 h. A similar, but less prominent splenic hyperaemia was detected in the awake rabbits and cats. However, this hyperaemic response was not detected in the normovolaemic, the polycythaemic or the anaesthetized and bled rats. 4. Administration of the adrenergic beta‐blocking agent propranolol prior to bleeding significantly attenuated the splenic hyperaemia in the awake rats, while the alpha‐blocking agent phentolamine or the cholinergic blocking agent atropine had no effect. 5. Concomitant with the initial increase in splenic perfusion, cardiac output increased to 123% of control in the awake, heavily bled rats. In the bled, anaesthetized rats cardiac output decreased to 91% of control 5 min after bleeding. A decrease in cardiac output to 64 and 70% of control was observed in the awake rabbits and cats, respectively. 6. Immediately following the bleeding, we noticed a substantial release of platelets from the rat spleen. 7. It appears that a heavy acute blood loss in awake rats, rabbits and cats elicits a marked reduction in splenic vascular tone, perhaps mediated by beta‐adrenergic receptor activity. Anaesthesia abolished this response in rats. Possibly, the induced hypovolaemia triggered an accelerated release of platelets from the rat spleen, dependent on an augmented splenic blood flow.
Ethanol self‐administration and nicotine treatment increase brain levels of CYP2D in African green monkeys

CYP2D6 metabolizes many centrally acting drugs, neurotoxins and endogenous neurochemicals, and differences in brain levels of CYP2D have been associated with brain function and drug response. Alcohol consumers and smokers have higher levels of CYP2D6 in brain, but not liver, suggesting ethanol and/or nicotine may induce human brain CYP2D6. We investigated the independent and combined effects of chronic ethanol self‐administration and nicotine treatment on CYP2D expression in African green monkeys.
Investigating interactions between search mechanisms in the control of visual attention

Olds, Cowan and Jolicoeur (2000) showed that although the mechanisms underlying visual search have traditionally been assumed to be independent, they in fact interact. Using coloured disk stimuli, they interrupted pop-out search (target plus D1 distractors) by adding more distractors (D2s) of a different colour to the display before pop-out processes were able to find the target. In short, partially completed pop-out processes facilitated subsequent difficult search processes (“search assistance”). The present study investigated hypotheses for this interaction. In Experiments 1 and 2, we used methods aimed at determining where the bulk of attentional resources are allocated during search of a visual display assumed to produce search assistance (by measuring the effect of inhibition of return [IOR] between D1 and D2 locations). In Experiment 1, we first presented observers with a search task that has been shown to produce search assistance (using coloured disks; see Olds et al., 2000). Immediately following target response, observers had to determine as quickly and accurately as possible whether a small probe-dot (that appeared on one of the disks) was present or absent. The results of Experiment 1 provided tentative support for a negative prioritization hypothesis, which proposed that some initial distractors (D1s) are eliminated from consideration during the second portion of the display. The sequence of events in Experiment 2 were identical to that of Experiment 1 except that, following target response, observers had to make a temporal order judgement (TOJ) as to which of two physically simultaneous lines (one on a D1, and one on a D2) appeared first. The results of Experiment 2 did not support either of the hypotheses regarding the nature of search assistance. Experiment 3 examined the effect of spatial cues on difficult search by attempting to eliminate the effect of negative prioritization of D1s while measuring a potential effect of positive prioritization of initial locations (D1s plus target location). The results of Experiment 3 provided evidence in support of a positive prioritization hypothesis, which proposed that the initial items are more likely to be searched in the second portion of the display.
MMSE channel estimation using two-dimensional filtering in rapid time-variant environments

The performance of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) deteriorates in a rapidly time-varying environment due to the loss of orthogonality, resulting in intercarrier interference (ICI). Moreover, the quality of a model-based channel estimation may degrade if the estimator has been designed for a time-invariant scenario. In this paper, we propose a new pilot-symbol-aided channel estimator based on two-dimensional Wiener filtering for OFDM systems and derive the filter for a rapid time-variant WSSUS channel model. Since the channel statistics are usually unknown, we also analyze the performance loss due to an improper estimation filter, which suffers from the problem of model mismatch.
Relationship between sleep‐disordered breathing and markers of systemic inflammation in women from the general population

Sleep‐disordered breathing (SDB) is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The underlying pathogenesis is not clear. In patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) elevated levels of inflammatory markers, such as C‐reactive protein (CRP), interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) and tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα) have been found. These markers have also been shown as independent markers of CVD in other populations. The aim of the study was to investigate the association between SDB and systemic inflammation in a population‐based cohort of women. From 6817 women who previously answered a questionnaire concerning snoring habits, 230 habitually snoring women and 170 women regardless of snoring status went through polysomnography, anthropometric measurements and blood sampling. Analyses were made for CRP, TNFα, IL‐6, myeloperoxidase (MPO) and lysozyme. The levels of CRP, IL‐6 and lysozyme were significantly higher in subjects with apnoea–hypopnoea index (AHI) ≥15 compared with women with lower AHI. All inflammatory markers except MPO correlated to AHI and oxygen desaturation measures, and to waist circumference. In multiple linear regressions adjusting for age, waist circumference and smoking, independent correlations between oxygen desaturation indices (ODI) and inflammation were found for IL‐6 (P = 0.03 for % sleep time with saturation <90%) and TNFα (P = 0.03 for ODI 3%). No significant correlations were found between AHI and inflammation. Also, for women from the general population there is an independent correlation between SDB and inflammation, even after adjusting for obesity. The results indicate that intermittent hypoxia, and not the AHI, is related to systemic inflammation seen in OSAS.
The metabolic syndrome is common among Arab populations in Mediterranean countries

Background: The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is rapidly increasing with a considerable ethnic variation within and across populations. This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its individual components using Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) criteria among Northern Jordanians. Methods: Data were analyzed from a cross-sectional study that included a random sample of 1121 northern Jordanians aged 25 years and above. The metabolic syndrome was defined by ATP III criteria. Results: The age-adjusted prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was 36.3% (95% CI 33.6–39.0%) (28.7% among men and 40.9% among women). The prevalence increased significantly with age in men and women. The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was significantly higher in women than in men in age groups of 40–49 and 60 years and above. Low HDL cholesterol was the most common abnormality in men (62.7%), and abdominal obesity was the most common abnormality in women (69.1%). Conclusions: Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in North Jordan is considerably higher than in developed countries and other Arab populations. An integrated approach is needed for the prevention and treatment of the metabolic syndrome. D 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Wall teichoic acids in animal Staphylococcus aureus strains determined by precipitation.

567 strains of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from a number of animal hosts were examined by agar gel precipitation for wall teichoic acids or other wall polysaccharides. The species was shown to be heterogeneous with regard to these constituents. Three groups could be distinguished: 1. The strains which had been classified biochemically as belonging to the human, bovine, hare and horse biotypes, and some of the swine strains, contained polysaccharide A. Of these, the horse strains contained polysaccharide Aα whereas the other strains regularly contained polysaccharide As. Of the latter, a higher incidence of additional polysaccharide Aα distinguished the human biotype from other biotypes. 2. The dog strains contained none of the reference polysaccharides but an unknown polysaccharide (P). 3. The pigeon and mink strains contained polysaccharide C. The occurrence of polysaccharide C in the biochemically least active biotypes is interesting, indicating a bridge towards the polysaccharide AsC group of S. epidermidis.