Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Broad infectivity of Leidynema appendiculatum (Nematoda: Oxyurida: Thelastomatidae) parasite of the smokybrown cockroach Periplaneta fuliginosa (Blattodea: Blattidae)

Abstract Host specificity of parasites is important for the understanding of evolutionary strategies of parasitism that would be a basis of predictions of the disease expansion when parasitized hosts invade new environments. The nematode order Oxyurida is an interesting parasite group for studying the evolution of parasitism as it includes parasites of both invertebrates and vertebrates. In our survey, we found that the smokybrown cockroach Periplaneta fuliginosa was primarily infected with only one nematode species Leidynema appendiculatum. In two cases, L. appendiculatum was isolated from two additional cockroach species Pycnoscelus surinamensis, sold in Japan as a reptile food, and Blatta lateralis, captured in the field and cultured in the laboratory. Inoculation of L. appendiculatum into three additional cockroach species P. japonica, Blattella nipponica, and P. surinamensis also resulted in parasitism. Infection prevalence was high, and timing of postembryonic development from hatched nematode larva to mature adult in these hosts was identical with that in P. fuliginosa. While ecological interactions strongly determine the host range, such broad infectivity is still possible in this parasitic nematode.
Characteristics and Predictive Value of PD-L1 Status in Real-World Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

Immunotherapy targeting the programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) pathway has emerged as an effective treatment for lung cancer patients. It is important to evaluate the practicality of PD-L1 testing in real-world practice. A total of 211 non–small cell lung cancer patients were enrolled to detect 5 driver mutations and PD-L1 status (22C3 and SP263 assays) and to evaluate the characteristics of PD-L1 expression and its predictive value of immunotherapy. The PD-L1 positive (≥1%) and strong positive (≥50%) rate by SP263 assay was 27.0% and 12.8%. The concordance rates between 2 PD-L1 assays while using 1%, 10%, 25%, and 50% positive tumor cells as the cutoffs were 76.8%, 81.5%, 90.5%, and 94.3%, respectively. Smokers and patients without known actionable driver mutation were more likely to present strong positive PD-L1 [adjusted hazard ratio, 5.00 (95% confidence interval—CI, 1.60-15.64); P=0.006 and 3.59 (95% CI, 1.25-10.33); P=0.018, respectively]. Higher levels of smoking were associated with higher PD-L1 expressions. None of the EGFR, ALK, HER2, or BRAFV600E-mutant nonsmokers displayed strong positive PD-L1 expression by SP263 assay. Among patients undergoing PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors therapy, high PD-L1 expression by SP263 was associated with a longer progression-free survival [adjusted hazard ratio, 0.15 (95% CI, 0.03-0.71); P=0.017]. In conclusion, our results suggest that PD-L1 status remains an important predictor of immunotherapy efficacy. The concordance between 22C3 and SP263 assays was greater at a higher cutoff level of positivity. Patients without known actionable driver mutation, along with smokers, particularly those having high smoking pack-years, were more likely to have strong PD-L1 expression.
Convergence of modes in exterior acoustics problems with infinite elements

ABSTRACT The radiated sound power is seldom computed by modal decomposition, since modal quantities are uncommon in exterior acoustics problems. The Finite Element Method and the Infinite Element Method (FEM and IFEM) are applied in order to discretize an unbounded fluid-filled domain and to obtain system matrices that are independent of frequency. From these system matrices of mass, damping and stiffness, frequencyindependent normal modes are computed as right eigenvectors of a state-space eigenvalue problem. As the polynomial order of radial interpolation in the domain of the infinite elements increases, the normal mode eigenvalues converge and lead to reliable results for the radiated sound power in exemplary load cases. However, the additional degrees of freedom may also yield mathematical artifacts or spurious modes, which might falsify the calculated sound power in the case of modal superposition. By application of the Modal Assurance Criterion (MAC), significant and converged modes are identified and their contribution to the total radiated sound power is investigated.
The State of the Art in Developing Fuzzy Ontologies: A Survey

Conceptual formalism supported by typical ontologies may not be sufficient to represent uncertainty information which is caused due to the lack of clear cut boundaries between concepts of a domain. Fuzzy ontologies are proposed to offer a way to deal with this uncertainty. This paper describes the state of the art in developing fuzzy ontologies. The survey is produced by studying about 35 works on developing fuzzy ontologies from a batch of 100 articles in the field of fuzzy ontologies.
Organizational Change in Difficult Times: A Case Study on the Top Management Team of Founder Group from 1999 to 2008

This paper examines organizational changes in Founder Group during 1999-2008, one of the leading computer manufacturers in China. It aims to reveal the basic logic behind the top management team's behaviors for organizational change in firms facing difficulties. Results show that building a strong management team is a prerequisite for successful organizational changes. Furthermore, there is evidence indicating that top managers should make strategic adjustment, and seek solution to cash-flow-related problems to achieve successful organizational transition.
Thinning Treatments Reduce Deep Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Stocks in a Coastal Pacific Northwest Forest

Forests provide valuable ecosystem and societal services, including the sequestration of carbon (C) from the atmosphere. Management practices can impact both soil C and nitrogen (N) cycling. This study examines soil organic C (SOC) and N responses to thinning and fertilization treatments. Soil was sampled at an intensively managed Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) plantation in north-western Oregon, USA. Management regimes—thinning, fertilization plus thinning, and no (control) treatment—were randomly assigned to nine 0.2-ha plots established in 1989 in a juvenile stand. Prior to harvest, forest floor and soil bulk density and chemical analysis samples were collected by depth to 150 cm. During a single rotation of ~40 years, thinning treatments significantly reduced SOC and N stocks by 25% and 27%, respectively, compared to no treatment. Most of this loss occurred in deeper soil layers (below ~20 cm). Fertilization plus thinning treatments also reduced SOC and N stocks, but not significantly. Across all management regimes, deeper soil layers comprised the majority of SOC and N stocks. This study shows that: (1) accurately quantifying and comparing SOC and N stocks requires sampling deep soil; and (2) forest management can substantially impact both surface and deep SOC and N stocks on decadal timescales.
An inquiry into factors impacting on the competitiveness of the South African wine industry

Abstract This article is aiming to provide a comprehensive and understandable statement about the competitiveness of the South African wine industry. A measurement of the competitive performance of the South African wine industry—the WINE COMPETITIVENESS INDEX (WCI)—indicates that South Africa's wines are internationally highly competitive with a sustainable and increasing positive trend over recent years. The wine industry in South Africa also shows positive trends in competitiveness in the long run and it should not lose its competitiveness status in the near future if its dynamic ability to continue to trade is sustained. An analyse of the key success factors that established competitive advantage and constraints that impacted negatively on competitiveness of the wine industry through the—WINE EXECUTIVE SURVEY (WES)—indicates that for the present intense competition in the market, the production of affordable high quality products, stringent regulatory standards in the industry, efficient supporting industries, and the availability of internationally competitive local suppliers of primary inputs are the major success factors to the competitiveness of this industry. The major factors that impact negatively on the competitive success of this industry are the strong Rand, fluctuations in the exchange rate, trust in the political support system, competence of personnel in the public sector, crime, South Africa's labour policy and the growth and size of the local market. These factors should be crafted into a Strategic Plan for the industry.
The Performance of the Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek Model in Predicting Endogenous Policy Forces at the Individual Level

This study tests the hypothesis that agents base their opinions about trade liberalization on the distribution effects as predicted by the Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek (HOV) model. The HOV model is utilized to derive the probable effect of a liberalization move on the returns to different Canadian occupations. The predicted effect is then compared with the opinions that Canadians with known occupations held about the proposed Canadian-U.S. Free Trade Agreement of 1988. It is found that these agents took positions that were generally consistent with the prediction from the HOV model.
Intracellular Regulome Variability Along the Organ of Corti: Evidence, Approaches, Challenges, and Perspective

The mammalian hearing organ is a regular array of two types of hair cells (HCs) surrounded by six types of supporting cells. Along the tonotopic axis, this conserved radial array of cell types shows longitudinal variations to enhance the tuning properties of basilar membrane. We present the current evidence supporting the hypothesis that quantitative local variations in gene expression profiles are responsible for local cell responses to global gene manipulations. With the advent of next generation sequencing and the unprecedented array of technologies offering high throughput analyses at the single cell level, transcriptomics will become a common tool to enhance our understanding of the inner ear. We provide an overview of the approaches and landmark studies undertaken to date to analyze single cell variations in the organ of Corti and discuss the current limitations. We next provide an overview of the complexity of known regulatory mechanisms in the inner ear. These mechanisms are tightly regulated temporally and spatially at the transcription, RNA-splicing, mRNA-regulation, and translation levels. Understanding the intricacies of regulatory mechanisms at play in the inner ear will require the use of complementary approaches, and most probably, a combinatorial strategy coupling transcriptomics, proteomics, and epigenomics technologies. We highlight how these data, in conjunction with recent insights into molecular cell transformation, can advance attempts to restore lost hair cells.
Profiles of emotion regulation: Understanding regulatory patterns and the implications for posttraumatic stress

ABSTRACT Trauma survivors often experience posttraumatic stress (PTS) and report concurrent difficulties with emotion regulation (ER). Although individuals typically use multiple regulatory strategies to manage emotion, no studies yet examine the influence of a constellation of strategies on PTS in a community sample. We assessed six ER strategies and investigated whether specific profiles of ER (i.e. the typical pattern of regulation, determined by how often each strategy is used) were related to PTS. A hierarchical cluster analysis indicated that four distinct profiles were present: Adaptive Regulation, Active Regulation, Detached Regulation, and Maladaptive Regulation. Further analyses revealed that an individual's profile was not related to frequency of past trauma, but had the power to differentiate symptom severity for overall PTS and each symptom cluster of posttraumatic stress disorder. These findings highlight how profiles characterising multiple regulatory strategies offer a more complete understanding of the ways ER can account for PTS.
Analysis of the low-frequency output current ripple in a buck-based LED driver under distinct control techniques

Switched-mode DC-DC converters are used to regulate dc voltages or currents at a certain desired level. Due to inherent switching action, currents and voltages in the circuit tend to oscillate around a given average value, as the output values present some ripple in steady-state condition. The low-frequency output current ripple (OCR) is a key parameter for design considerations when a light-emitting diode (LED) string load is considered. In order to compare their ripple magnitudes under distinct conditions regarding a buck-based LED driver operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM), this paper analyzes the conventional voltage mode control as well as the peak-current mode control in order to compare its OCR responses by the classical control theory. The methods are implemented considering the same control bandwidth so that a proper comparison can be established.
Determinants of Firm Survival in the Austrian Accommodation Sector

In this study, the authors use a parametric duration analysis to determine the survival rate of firms in the Austrian accommodation sector. Factors that contribute positively to the survival rate of entrants in the accommodation sector include larger initial size, a large share of young firms and fast market growth. High sunk costs and the location of businesses in major tourist destinations with a distinctive winter and summer season and a relative high average bed utilization rate further improve the odds of survival. The authors find an inverted U-shape hazard function supporting the liability of newness hypothesis. The hazard rate is lower than in the production of other market services but higher than in manufacturing.
Impact of TFET reverse currents into circuit operation: A case study

Tunnel FET transistors (TFETs) are one of the most promising candidates to replace CMOS transistors for future integrated circuits. However TFET-based circuit design can exhibit significant limitations due to their reverse conduction currents caused by the direct bias of the intrinsic diode of these transistors. In this paper we analyze in depth this issue through the design of charge pump (DC-DC step up converters) circuits for energy harvesting applications. The proposed solution mitigates the impact of reverse conduction currents and, thus, improves power conversion efficiencies (PCE) compared to previous designs.
Association of PDGF-BB-induced thrombomodulin with the regulation of inflammation in the corneal and scleral stroma.

PURPOSE The responses of corneal and scleral stromal cells to platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB were assessed and inflammatory reactions in the cornea and sclera were investigated. METHODS Primary cultures of cells obtained from human subjects and strains derived from human corneal or scleral stromal cells (Cs3 and Sc1, respectively) were used. Changes in gene expression after 24 hours of exposure to 10 ng/mL PDGF-BB were analyzed with an Sc1 DNA microarray. The upregulation of several genes in Cs3 and Sc1 was confirmed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot analysis. The expression of bioactive factors was detected immunohistochemically in nine different clinical specimens. RESULTS DNA microarray analysis revealed that the gene encoding thrombomodulin (TM) was induced in Sc1 by PDGF-BB. RT-PCR confirmed that TM expression at the mRNA level was increased in both corneal and scleral stromal cells. At the protein level, TM expression was increased in scleral stromal cells, but not in corneal cells, and TM was detected in both the membrane and cytoplasmic compartments. TM was detected immunohistochemically in inflamed scleral and several corneal specimens. After TM stimulation, interleukin (IL)-18 transcription was increased in Sc1. CONCLUSIONS PDGF-BB induced TM mRNA expression in scleral and corneal stromal cells, but Western blot analysis revealed the increase in TM expression only in the scleral cells. TM induced IL-18 in scleral stromal cells. A cascade involving these biologically active factors may regulate scleral and corneal inflammation. The results also reveal differences in the biological response of scleral and corneal stromal cells.
The Weighted Application Blank

Data captured by common, standardized job-application forms can be used to predict employee success within a company. The procedure, called weighted application blank (WAB), involves first selecting an employee characteristic to be measured (in this case job tenure), identifying which questions predict the desired employee behavior, determining the questions' relative predictive power, assigning weighted values to each relevant question, and scoring each applicant's completed job-application form according to the scoring key developed. Hiring decisions may then be made according to applicants' weighted scores based on the criterion or criteria being measured. It is possible to determine for a given job-application form the total score below which a prospective employee might be a bad risk for the company and above which the applicant is likely to be a successful employee. In this study the authors show how using WAB might save a hotel firm $13,100 in annual turnover costs and could reduce employee turnover from 104 per year to 55.
Growth, Human Capital Spillovers and International Policy Coordination

This paper is concerned with public policy and economic development in a world of interdependent economies. Its objective is to show how the international coordination of economic policy is a means of promoting growth across countries. The analysis is based on a two-country endogenous growth model in which the production of human capital depends on country-specific tax-financed public expenditure and worldwide previously accumulated knowledge. The authors consider optimal policy as the outcome of a dynamic game between benevolent governments. They show that both growth (which itself has no normative significance) and welfare are, indeed, higher under cooperation than under noncooperation. Copyright 1993 by The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics.
Significance of biologics in renal transplantation: past, present, and future

Purpose of review Finding the right immunosuppressive approach for the individual transplant patient is of utmost importance. In truth, a ‘one size fits all’ does not exist, and as patients differ, so should therapeutic suppression of the immune system be individualized. For over three decades, biologics have been a central component of transplant immunosuppression. Our growing knowledge of immunological processes combined with biotechnological advances is leading to promising new therapeutic concepts and possibilities including novel biologics. Use of biologics may be appropriate at various phases of kidney transplantation, from desensitization and induction to maintenance therapy and management of acute rejection. Their mechanisms of action include depleting or modulating immune cells, eliminating preformed antibodies, and inhibiting the complement system. Herein, we summarize the current approaches to applying ‘established’ biologics to prevent and treat allograft rejection in kidney transplantation. We also provide insights into new developments and possible future directions. Recent findings A number of candidate biologics were found to be efficacious in more recent preclinical and early phase clinical trials. Their properties are outlined and their potential for future utilization discussed. Summary The extraordinary capabilities of biologics are undisputed and our technological progress offers unprecedented opportunities to devise new agents and refine old ones. However, the rationale for their use in kidney allograft recipients must be rigorously examined in every case and, given the significant risk of early and late-onset adverse effects, the risk-to-benefit ratio carefully balanced. We also need to expand and use our knowledge of the underlying physiology of allograft rejection to adjust the characteristics of therapeutic biologics and thus harness their full potential for the benefit of our patients.
An Articulatory Experiment on Voice Onset Time in German Stop Consonants

Abstract The study investigates voice onset time (VOT) in German stop consonants and its relationship to place of articulation in a variety of phonetic environments. The outstanding findings are the consistently lowest values for the alveolars and the particular susceptibility of the VOT of bilabials to environmental variables like position in the utterance and stress. Highest values for velar stops are only achieved in initial position and medially before stress. Airflow measurements suggest a direct relationship between VOT and rate of articulation and airflow.
Text Mining for the Hotel Industry

With the availability of huge volumes of text-based information freely available on the Internet, text mining can be used by hoteliers to develop competitive and strategic intelligence. Although the software needed to analyze online text files remains comparatively expensive, the cost will inevitably fall. A demonstration of text mining compiled information about Hong Kong hotels and about would-be travelers. Such relatively invariant information as statistics on competitors’ facilities is fairly easy to assemble, but variant information, such as room rates, can be elusive. Customers’ demographics and attitudes can be mined with reasonable accuracy from newsgroup postings and the like.
Unintended consequences: Regulating the quality of subsidized day care

Advocates for the poor frequently support uniform, high federal standards for subsidized social services. While such standards may improve the quality of services for those who qualify, they can also have unintended but important side effects. Stringent regulations may actually curtail the supply of services, promote segregation, and expand the role of large subsidized for-profit firms. All these possibilities are illustrated by the history of federal regulation in subsidizing child day care. The federal government's retreat from regulation in 1980 and 1981 may have had results that-even if unintended-were in many ways salutary.
Draft Genome Sequence of Pseudomonas putida CA-3, a Bacterium Capable of Styrene Degradation and Medium-Chain-Length Polyhydroxyalkanoate Synthesis

ABSTRACT Pseudomonas putida strain CA-3 is an industrial bioreactor isolate capable of synthesizing biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoate polymers via the metabolism of styrene and other unrelated carbon sources. The pathways involved are subject to regulation by global cellular processes. The draft genome sequence is 6,177,154 bp long and contains 5,608 predicted coding sequences.