Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cotransplantation with specific populations of spina bifida bone marrow stem/progenitor cells enhances urinary bladder regeneration

Spina bifida (SB) patients afflicted with myelomeningocele typically possess a neurogenic urinary bladder and exhibit varying degrees of bladder dysfunction. Although surgical intervention in the form of enterocystoplasty is the current standard of care in which to remedy the neurogenic bladder, it is still a stop-gap measure and is associated with many complications due to the use of bowel as a source of replacement tissue. Contemporary bladder tissue engineering strategies lack the ability to reform bladder smooth muscle, vasculature, and promote peripheral nerve tissue growth when using autologous populations of cells. Within the context of this study, we demonstrate the role of two specific populations of bone marrow (BM) stem/progenitor cells used in combination with a synthetic elastomeric scaffold that provides a unique and alternative means to current bladder regeneration approaches. In vitro differentiation, gene expression, and proliferation are similar among donor mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), whereas poly(1,8-octanediol-cocitrate) scaffolds seeded with SB BM MSCs perform analogously to control counterparts with regard to bladder smooth muscle wall formation in vivo. SB CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells cotransplanted with donor-matched MSCs cause a dramatic increase in tissue vascularization as well as an induction of peripheral nerve growth in grafted areas compared with samples not seeded with hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. Finally, MSC/CD34+ grafts provided the impetus for rapid urothelium regeneration. Data suggest that autologous BM stem/progenitor cells may be used as alternate, nonpathogenic cell sources for SB patient-specific bladder tissue regeneration in lieu of current enterocystoplasty procedures and have implications for other bladder regenerative therapies.
On the determination of the thermal impedance of microwave bipolar transistors

This paper has two main axis: firstly, we address the experimental characterization of the frequency-dependent thermal impedance of microwave bipolar transistors from continuous wave (CW)-only measurements (both DC and AC). From the experimental perspective, we will review some of the already available methods and propose a new method based on a recent observation. It will be shown that under proper measurement control, a reasonable precision of the computed value can be achieved. The method is applied to characterize the global (external) behavior of a multi-finger Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor (HBT), whose physical structure is known. A distributed thermal circuit, entirely derived from 3D thermal simulations, is incorporated into a complete distributed electrothermal model of the device, whose global behavior is validated by measurements. Then from a distributed electrothermal simulation perspective, we will address the power and temperature distribution between fingers as a function of the power dissipated by the device, and will show that the global behavior in measurements is close to the worst case in terms of highest temperature among individual fingers.
A Concept for Order Change Management in ETO Supply Chains

Order management might incur substantially challenging tasks for Engineer to Order (ETO) type manufacturing companies. A significant number of engineering changes and variations during the order management process constantly occur. These changes lead to modifications in product, design and engineering, and material management phases and ETO companies must react on these changes appropriately. Eventually these modifications compel changes in the project schedule as well. This study primarily focuses on the material management issues implied by the engineering changes and aims for developing a conceptual framework aiding these challenges, in sync with the management of entire project to deliver the product efficiently in time and cost wise. The applied research methodology is qualitative exploratory research. The data is collected theoretically and empirically. The relevant literature is reviewed and a case company from the shipbuilding industry is studied and represented in this paper. Limitations of this research appear due to the lack of literature in this field and single case study approach which reduces the chances to generate the results. However this study contributes to theory by increasing the understanding of EC problems in association with the
Children, cancer, and nutrition—A dynamic triangle in review

The overall cure rate for cancer in childhood now exceeds 70% and is projected to reach 85% by the year 2010 in industrialized countries. Therefore, major attention is being placed on reducing the side effects of therapy. However, 85% of the world's children live in developing countries, where access to adequate care often is limited and health status frequently is influenced adversely by prevalent infectious diseases and malnutrition. Despite several confounding factors (different definitions of nutritional status, the wide variety of measures used for its assessment, the selection biases by disease and stage, treatment protocols of variable dose intensity and efficacy, small sample sizes of the studies conducted in the last 20 years), it is accepted that the prevalence of malnutrition at diagnosis averages 50% in children with cancer in developing countries; whereas, in industrialized countries, it is related to the type of tumor and the extent of the disease, ranging from < 10% in patients with standard‐risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia to 50% in patients with advanced neuroblastoma. The importance of nutritional status in children with cancer is related to its possible influence on the course of the disease and survival. Some authors have described decreased tolerance of chemotherapy associated with altered metabolism of antineoplastic drugs, increased infection rates, and poor clinical outcome in malnourished children. In this article, the authors review methods of nutritional assessment and the pathogenesis of nutritional morbidity in children with cancer as well as correlations of nutritional status with diagnosis, treatment, and outcome. Cancer 2004;100:677–87. © 2004 American Cancer Society.
A comparison of performance of mathematical predictive methods for medical diagnosis: identifying acute cardiac ischemia among emergency department patients.

BACKGROUND There is increasing interest in mathematical methods for the prediction of medical outcomes. Three methods have attracted particular attention: logistic regression, classification trees (such as ID3 and CART), and neural networks. To compare their relative performance, we used a large clinical database to develop and compare models using these methods. METHODS Each modeling method was used to generate predictive instruments for acute cardiac ischemia (which includes acute myocardial infarction and unstable angina pectoris), using prospectivel-collected clinical data on 5773 patients, who presented over a two year period to six hospitals' emergency departments with chest pain or symptoms suggesting acute ischemia. This data set was then split into training (n = 3453) and test (n = 2320) sets. Of 200 available variables, modeling was restricted to those available within the first 10 minutes of emergency department care (history, physical exam, and electrocardiogram). RESULTS When the number of variables was limited to eight, representing a practical number for input in the real-time clinical setting, the logistic regression's receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve area, as a measure of diagnostic performance, was 0.887; the classification tree model's ROC curve area was 0.858, and the neural network's ROC curve area was 0.902. When the number of variables used by a model was not limited, the logistic regression's ROC area was 0.905, the classification tree model's 0.861, and the neural network's 0.923. Among these models the neural networks had noticeably poorer calibration. When the outputs from each of these unrestricted models were presented to each of the other methods as an additional independent variable, the ROC areas of the new "hybrid" models were not significantly better than the original unlimited models (ROC areas 0.858 to 0.920). CONCLUSIONS Logistic regression, classification tree, and neural network models all can provide excellent predictive performance of medical outcomes for clinical decision aids and policy models. Their ultimate limitations seem due to the availability of the information in data (a "data barrier") rather than their respective intrinsic properties. Choices between these methods would seem to be most appropriately based on the needs of the specific application, rather than on the premise that any one of these methods is intrinsically more powerful.
Validation of along-track interferometric SAR measurements of ocean surface waves

C-band HH-polarized along-track interferometric synthetic aperture radar (ATInSAR) images of ocean waves from the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) CV-580 SAR are used to study ATInSAR wave imaging fidelity. ATInSAR phase spectra are derived using cross spectra between the interferogram phase generated from individual look complex SAR images. The resulting observed phase spectra are quantitatively compared with forward-mapped in situ directional wave spectra collocated with the ATInSAR observations. The forward mapping models include two quasilinear forward transforms that include varying degrees of velocity bunching nonlinearity, both of which include an azimuth null in the modulation transfer function, and an implementation of the fully nonlinear forward transform. The null arises from the cancellation of upward and downward orbital velocity components within a resolution cell. The second of the two quasilinear transforms and the nonlinear forward transform are shown to have agreement with the observed velocity spectra, as measured by correlation coefficients between the observed spectra or forward-mapped spectra and the ATInSAR spectra. ATInSAR can allow a direct measurement of the orbital velocity spectrum. There is, however, an added layer of complexity caused by the cancellation of upward and downward orbital velocity components within a resolution cell. Furthermore, the SAR complication of velocity bunching nonlinearity is not avoided by using an ATInSAR.
A pure population of lung alveolar epithelial type II cells derived from human embryonic stem cells

Alveolar epithelial type II (ATII) cells are small, cuboidal cells that constitute ≈60% of the pulmonary alveolar epithelium. These cells are crucial for repair of the injured alveolus by differentiating into alveolar epithelial type I cells. ATII cells derived from human ES (hES) cells are a promising source of cells that could be used therapeutically to treat distal lung diseases. We have developed a reliable transfection and culture procedure, which facilitates, via genetic selection, the differentiation of hES cells into an essentially pure (>99%) population of ATII cells (hES-ATII). Purity, as well as biological features and morphological characteristics of normal ATII cells, was demonstrated for the hES-ATII cells, including lamellar body formation, expression of surfactant proteins A, B, and C, α-1-antitrypsin, and the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance receptor, as well as the synthesis and secretion of complement proteins C3 and C5. Collectively, these data document the successful generation of a pure population of ATII cells derived from hES cells, providing a practical source of ATII cells to explore in disease models their potential in the regeneration and repair of the injured alveolus and in the therapeutic treatment of genetic diseases affecting the lung.
Credit for the Poor

The end of the 1980s established a first step in microcredit development in France, mainly targeting individuals with poor credit wishing to start their own business. Since the beginning of the 2000s, solidarity lending, including personal microcredit, has been established because of a government in favor of banking institutions capturing this market, with social action groups acting as borrowers. These plans, now endowed with legal framework adjusted and supported by converted intermediaries, led to the production of a right to indebtedness which while raising the legal question of the right to access money, contributes to a process of financialization of social assistance. Based on a series of field studies on banking, social, and microcredit professionals, and on the analysis of the channels for requesting and granting loans, this article aims to shed light on the processes that drive institutions and actors with apparently divergent interests to work together in the production of a financial market, neither completely public, nor completely private: credit for the poor.
Estimating Intelligence in Spanish: Regression Equations With the Word Accentuation Test and Demographic Variables in Latin America

Spanish is the fourth most spoken language in the world, and the majority of Spanish speakers have a Latin American origin. Reading aloud infrequently accentuated words has been established as a National Adult Reading Test-like method to assess premorbid intelligence in Spanish. However, several versions have been proposed and validated with small and selected samples, in particular geographical conditions, and they seldom derive a formula for IQ estimation with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ). The objective of this study was to develop equations to estimate WAIS-Third Edition (WAIS-III) FSIQ from the Word Accentuation Test-Revised (WAT-R), demographic variables, and their combination within diverse Latin American samples. Two hundred and forty participants from Argentina and Colombia, selected according to age and years of education strata, were assessed with the WAT-R, the WAIS-III, and a structured questionnaire about demographic and medical information. A combined approach including place of birth, years of education, and WAT-R provided the best equation, explaining 76% of IQ variance. These equations could be useful for estimating premorbid IQ in patients with Latin American Spanish as their birth language.
Customer retention and the mediating role of perceived value in retail industry

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: to examine the effect of corporate social responsibility, social media marketing, sales promotion, and store environment on the perceived value and customer retention in the retail industry; and to provide a significant contribution to the existing literature by examining the mediating effect of the perceived value between the stated factors and customer retention. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative research approach was utilized, collecting data from customers of department stores in the east coast of Malaysia. In total, 278 valid questionnaires were used in the analysis of data using the structural equation modeling. Findings The findings indicate that perceived value has a significant positive effect on customer retention. The outcomes also showed that social media marketing has an insignificant effect on the perceived value, whereas its effect on customer retention is positive and statistically significant. Additionally, the results confirmed that corporate social responsibility and store environment have significant positive effects on the perceived value and customer retention. Moreover, the findings showed that sales promotion has a significant positive effect on the perceived value, but its effect on customer retention is insignificant. Finally, the results revealed that the perceived value mediates the relationships between all of the independent variables and customer retention. Originality/value The results of this study improve our understanding of how these factors affect customer retention in the retail industry.
TRPV 4 activation mediates flow-induced nitric oxide production in the rat thick ascending limb

Cabral PD, Garvin JL. TRPV4 activation mediates flow-induced nitric oxide production in the rat thick ascending limb. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 307: F666–F672, 2014. First published June 25, 2014; doi:10.1152/ajprenal.00619. 2013. —Nitric oxide (NO) regulates renal function. Luminal flow stimulates NO production in the thick ascending limb (TAL). Transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) is a mechano-sensitive channel activated by luminal flow in different types of cells. We hypothesized that TRPV4 mediates flow-induced NO production in the rat TAL. We measured NO production in isolated, perfused rat TALs using the fluorescent dye DAF FM. Increasing luminal flow from 0 to 20 nl/min stimulated NO from 8 3 to 45 12 arbitrary units (AU)/min (n 5; P 0.05). The TRPV4 antagonists, ruthenium red (15 mol/l) and RN 1734 (10 mol/l), blocked flow-induced NO production. Also, luminal flow did not increase NO production in the absence of extracellular calcium. We also studied the effect of luminal flow on NO production in TALs transduced with a TRPV4shRNA. In nontransduced TALs luminal flow increased NO production by 47 17 AU/min (P 0.05; n 5). Similar to nontransduced TALs, luminal flow increased NO production by 39 11 AU/min (P 0.03; n 5) in TALs transduced with a control negative sequence-shRNA while in TRPV4shRNA-transduced TALs, luminal flow did not increase NO production ( 10 15 AU/min; n 5). We then tested the effect of two different TRPV4 agonists on NO production in the absence of luminal flow. 4 -Phorbol 12,13-didecanoate (1 mol/l) enhanced NO production by 60 11 AU/min (P 0.002; n 7) and GSK1016790A (10 mol/l) increased NO production by 52 15 AU/min (P 0.03; n 5). GSK1016790A (10 mol/l) did not stimulate NO production in TRPV4shRNA-transduced TALs. We conclude that activation of TRPV4 channels mediates flow-induced NO production in the rat TAL.
Owners' portfolio diversification and firm investment: Evidence from public and private firms

We examine the effects of portfolio diversification of controlling owners on firms’ capital investment using a large sample of private and public firms. We find that investment of public firms, which tend to be relatively financially unconstrained, is positively related to their owners’ portfolio diversification. This relation is economically sizable and is not driven by omitted owner characteristics, selection of firms by owners, reverse causality, or endogeneity of firms’ mode of incorporation. For private firms, which tend to be relatively financially constrained, the relation between owners’ portfolio diversification and firm investment is significantly weaker. This suggests that relatively constrained firms may not operate at their first-best investment levels and may be unable to significantly alter their capital investment in response to changes in their controlling owners’ portfolio diversification. Our results show that owners’ portfolio diversification is an important determinant of firms’ investment strategies, and that the effect of owners’ diversification on investment depends crucially on the degree of financial constraints that firms face. ∗We thank Daniel Andrei, Kevin Aretz, Guillermo Baquero, Nittai Bergman, Arnoud Boot, Melanie Cao, Mara Faccio, Vito Gala, Joachim Gassen, Edith Ginglinger, Amit Goyal, Yaniv Grinstein, Ambrus Kecskés, Nisan Langberg, Jens Martin, Erwan Morellec, Jillian Popadak, Buhui Qiu, Jörg Rocholl, Tao Shen, Norman Shuerhoff, Dimopoulos Theodosios, David Thesmar, Mathijs van Dijk, Patrick Vermijmeren, Vladimir Vladimirov, and Vadym Volosovych for helpful comments and suggestions. We also thank seminar participants at 2014 London Business School Corporate Finance Conference, 2014 Jerusalem Finance Conference, 2014 China International Conference in Finance, 2014 European Finance Association Meetings, Boston University, Erasmus University, European School of Management and Technology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, University of Amsterdam, University of Lausanne, and York University. †School of Management, Boston University and IDC, lyandres@bu.edu. ‡Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, maria.marchica@mbs.ac. uk. §Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University and IDC, rm34@cornell.edu. ¶Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, roberto.mura@mbs.ac. uk.
Competition and Cooperation in Mutual Fund Families

Abstract Using manager compensation disclosure and intra-family manager cooperation measures, we create indices of family-level competitive/cooperative incentives. Families that encourage cooperation among their managers are more likely to engage in coordinated behavior (e.g., cross-trading and cross-holding) and have less volatile cash flows. Families with competitive incentives generate higher performing funds, a higher fraction of “star” funds, but greater performance dispersion across funds. In examining the determinants of incentive schemes, competitive families are more likely to manage institutional money, and cooperative families are more likely to distribute through brokers, consistent with retail demand for nonperformance characteristics.
Student perceptions of the use of debate as a teaching strategy in the allied health professions.

This paper presents results from a survey regarding student perceptions of the use of debate in two occupational therapy courses. The survey was initially used as a classroom evaluation, consisting of open-ended questions asked by the instructor and answered by students in a research and a policy course. Students then were randomly assigned to two groups, which present their arguments and then fielded questions. After the debates, students were asked to answer four questions: 1) What did I learn from the debate? ; 2) What did you like best about the debate? ; 3) What did you like least about the debate? ; and 4) Would you recommend this activity for future classes? Results of the student's comments to the four questions showed that debate was perceived by the majority of students as a useful technique for discussing issues both in a research course and in a health policy-related course. Comments from students showed that debate encouraged active participation in class, out of class research experiences, provided an opportunity to discuss issues and develop conclusions, and promoted the ability to advocate for themselves.
ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION IN WOMEN THE INFLUENCE OF AGE ON COMPLICATIONS AND MORTALITY

The prognostic implications of a past history of ischaemic heart disease, site of infarction, ectopic ventricular dysrhythmias (ventricular premature beats (VPB) more than one in 10 sinus beats, and/or ventricular tachycardia (VT), ventricular fibrillation (VF), atrioventricular blocks (AVB), bundle branch blocks (BBB)) and the occurrence of electrical and/or mechanical complications during stay in the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) were analysed in 154 women with definite (WHO Class 1) acute myocardial infarction, admitted sequentially to the CCU over a four‐year period. The prognosis in these women was then compared with the prognosis in a group which represented the general male population in the CCU and an age‐matched group of men. The results showed that the long‐term prognosis in women with acute myocardial infarction is remarkably similar to age‐matched groups of men.
First record of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. basilici occurring on sweet basil in South Africa

This is the first record of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. basilici causing wilt and crown rot of sweet basil plants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The identification of the pathogen was confirmed with a PCR assay using the Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. basilici specific primer pair, Bik 1 + Bik 2.