Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Customer orientation and performance: a study of SMEs

This study examined the customer orientation ‐ performance link in small‐ and medium‐sized businesses and tested for the possible effects of innovation orientation, market dynamism and competitive intensity on the degree of customer orientation among these firms. Specific performance measures used were new product success, sales growth and return on investment (ROI). Based on constructs of these measures, a research scale was developed for the study and data were collected via a self‐administered mail survey among a UK samples of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The results show a positive effect of customer orientation on SME performance. There are also findings on the varied influences of innovation orientation and the competitive environment on the levels of SME customer orientation. In the light of existing literature, implications of our findings for SME managers, the study’s limitations and future research directions are subsequently addressed.
Integrating reflexes with physiological measures to evaluate coastal shark stress response to capture

J. M. Jerome*, A. J. Gallagher, S. J. Cooke, and N. Hammerschlag Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA Field School, 3109 Grand Avenue No. 154, Coconut Grove, FL 33133, USA Fish Ecology & Conservation Lab, Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel Bay Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada Institute of Environmental Science, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel Bay Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada Beneath the Waves Inc, 110 West Fayette Street, Syracuse, NY 13202, USA Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy, University of Miami, PO Box 248203, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA
Tedisamil blocks the transient and delayed rectifier K+ currents in mammalian cardiac and glial cells.

The potassium currents in rat and guinea pig ventricular myocytes and mouse astrocytes were studied using tedisamil, a novel antiarrhythmic agent. A 1 to 20 microM dosage of tedisamil caused marked prolongation of the action potential in isolated rat ventricular myocytes, mimicking its reported effects on multicellular rat heart preparations. Under voltage clamp conditions, tedisamil caused a dose-dependent increase in the speed of inactivation of the transient outward K+ current (Ito), the predominant outward current in rat ventricular myocytes. In cardiac myocytes, the tedisamil block was neither use- nor voltage-dependent. The slow reversibility of drug action when applied from the outside, and its effectiveness when applied intracellularly, suggested an internal site of drug action. In guinea pig ventricular myocytes, tedisamil blocked the slowly developing time-dependent delayed rectifier K+ current (IK) over the same concentration range as that found for Ito in the rat myocytes. Tedisamil reduced this current without changing the characteristics of its slow (tau approximately 1 sec) activation. The effects of tedisamil on Ito and IK were independent of the phosphorylation state of the channel, as assessed by the equal effectiveness of the drug in the presence or absence of isoproterenol. Tedisamil also blocked the transient K+ current and the delayed rectifier current (IK) in mouse astrocytes over the same concentration range as that found in the cardiac myocytes and by a process that accelerated (transient K+ current) or mimicked (IK) inactivation. At concentrations of up to 50 microM, tedisamil had little effect on the time-dependent inward rectifier K+ current, or inward calcium current in rat or guinea pig ventricular myocytes. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Recognition of Herbivory-Associated Molecular Patterns

During their long, approximately 350 million-year period of coexistence, plants, insects, and other arthropods evolved a variety of different interactions (Gatehouse, 2002). Some interactions can be beneficial for the plant, as in the case of insect-mediated pollination or seed dispersion, and others are deleterious, as in the case of attack by herbivorous insects (Fig. 1). To successfully combat aggressors, plants must be equipped with a sophisticated sensory system to perceive signals fast and efficiently from their environment and thereby detect potential enemies and subsequently translate and integrate such signals into appropriate biochemical and physiological responses. Thus, upon attack, a number of reactions are detectable in plant cells, including changes in ion flux and protein phosphorylation, formation of reactive oxygen species and oxylipins, as well as initiation of various defense reactions in the host plant (Kessler and Baldwin, 2002; Maffei et al., 2007b). Intriguing questions arising from these observations are how plants recognize the particular herbivores, what kinds of signals are involved, how such signals are perceived, and how they are converted into downstream signaling pathways involved in plant defense activation. Signal perception in the plant cell may rely on the presence of specific receptors for chemical signals or on general recognition processes based on localized tissue injuries. In principle, the feeding process combines two sites of the same coin: mechanical wounding of the infested tissue and introduction of oral secretions that are delivered from the feeding organism into the wounded tissue (i.e. the attacked plant is challenged by both a mechanical as well as a chemical stimulus). This Update introduces herbivore-derived metabolites, which represent serious candidates for signaling compounds; we will also discuss advances in herbivore recognition, namely, the perception of insect-derived signals by specific binding proteins. The properties of these binding proteins suggest their involvement in signal perception.
Supply-Side Effects of Exchange Rate, Exchange Rate Expectations and Induced Currency Depreciation

Within the context of a small open economy model, this paper examines the repercussions of induced currency depreciation. The results presented in this paper are based on a model with firm microeconomic foundations and which takes into account both the supply and demand-side effects of exchange rate variations. The distinguishing feature of the model is the role of exchange rate expectations. We consider three kinds of expectations; adaptive, extrapolative, and regressive expectations. We also perform several sensitivity tests based on these expectations. Our simulation exercise shows that the effect of induced currency depreciation depends largely on supply-side effects. In most cases, we find that currency depreciation results in (i) a fall in output, (ii) an increase in prices and (iii) an improvement in the balance of trade. In the absence of weak supply-side effects of exchange rates, we find that, if the Marshall-Lerner conditions hold, then depreciation of the home currency has a favorable effect on output but its effect on the balance of trade is negative.
Meta‐Analysis of Steady‐State Pharmacokinetics of Troglitazone and Its Metabolites

The object of this study is to evaluate the effects of age, gender, age‐by‐gender interaction, Type II diabetes, body weight, race, smoking, and formulation on steady‐state pharmacokinetics of troglitazone, Metabolite 1 (sulfate conjugate), and Metabolite 3 (quinone metabolite) following multiple‐dose oral administration of troglitazone. Pharmacokinetic parameter estimates [Cl/F (apparent oral clearance), AUC0–24 (area under plasma concentration—time curve), and ratio of AUC for troglitazone to Metabolite 1 and to Metabolite 3] obtained from 84 healthy volunteers and 171 patients with Type II diabetes in 8 studies were analyzed using a graphical method (for race and smoking) or a weighted ANCOVA model incorporating gender, health status (healthy vs Type II diabetes), and formulation as main effects; age, age‐by‐gender interaction, and body weight as continuous covariates. Ratio of AUC for troglitazone to metabolites was also examined by inspection of log‐probit plots. Age, gender, age‐by‐gender, Type II diabetes, and formulation had negligible effects on troglitazone Cl/F, AUC0–24 (all analytes), and AUC ratio of troglitazone to metabolites. Race and smoking did not appear to influence steady‐state pharmacokinetics of troglitazone and its metabolites. Although body weight was a significant covariate for AUC0–24 and Cl/F, the explanatory power of the overall model was weak (R2 < 0.2). Log‐probit plots did not reveal a polymorphic distribution in AUC ratio of troglitazone to Metabolite 1 or Metabolite 3. Based on pharmacokinetics, dose adjustment for troglitazone in relation to the demographic factors examined is not required due to their poor predictive ability on steady‐state pharmacokinetics of troglitazone and its metabolites.
The G Protein-coupled Receptor GPR30 Mediates c-fos Up-regulation by 17β-Estradiol and Phytoestrogens in Breast Cancer Cells*

A growing body of evidence concerning estrogen effects cannot be explained by the classic model of hormone action, which involves the binding to estrogen receptors (ERs) α and ERβ and the interaction of the steroid-receptor complex with specific DNA sequences associated with target genes. Using c-fos proto-oncogene expression as an early molecular sensor of estrogen action in ERα-positive MCF7 and ER-negative SKBR3 breast cancer cells, we have discovered that 17β-estradiol (E2), and the two major phytoestrogens, genistein and quercetin, stimulate c-fos expression through ERα as well as through an ER-independent manner via the G protein-coupled receptor homologue GPR30. The c-fos response is repressed in GPR30-expressing SKBR3 cells transfected with an antisense oligonucleotide against GPR30 and reconstituted in GPR30-deficient MDA-MB 231 and BT-20 breast cancer cells transfected with a GPR30 expression vector. GPR30-dependent activation of ERK1/2 by E2 and phytoestrogens occurs via a Gβγ-associated pertussis toxin-sensitive pathway that requires both Src-related and EGF receptor tyrosine kinase activities. The ability of E2 and phytoestrogens to regulate the expression of growth-related genes such as c-fos even in the absence of ER has interesting implications for understanding breast cancer progression.
Rising sea and threatened mangroves: a case study on stakeholders, engagement in climate change communication and non-formal education

Scientific consensus shows that the changes related to climate change are already occurring and will intensify in the future. This will likely result in significant alterations to coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, increase coastal hazards and affect lifestyles of coastal communities. There is increasing speculation that mangrove, a socio-economically important ecosystem, will become more fragile and sensitive to uncertain climate variability such as sea level rise. As a result, mangrove-dependent societies may find themselves trapped in a downward spiral of ecological degradation in terms of their livelihoods and life security. Strengthening the resilience capacity of coastal communities to help them cope with this additional threat from climate change and to ensure sustainability calls for immediate action. In this context, this paper critically examines the regional implications of expected sea level rise and threats to mangrove-dependent communities through a case study approach. The main objective is to highlight the requirement for climate change communication and education to impart information that will fulfil three expectations: (1) confer understanding; (2) assess local inference on climate change through a participatory approach; and (3) construct a framework for climate change awareness among mangrove-dependent communities through community-based non-formal climate change education. This scale of approach is attracting increasing attention from policymakers to achieve climate change adaptation and derive policies from a social perspective.
Reproductive toxicity of nanoscale graphene oxide in male mice

Abstract In the past few years, much work has been performed to explore the biomedical applications and toxicity of nano-graphene and its derivatives. However, the reproductive toxicity of those carbon nanomaterials has been rarely studied. In this study, we report on the male reproductive toxicity of nanoscale graphene oxide (GO) using a mouse model. The results showed that the adult male mice injected with high dosages of GO (25 mg/kg mouse) via the tail vein exhibited normal sex hormone secretion and retained normal reproductive activity. All untreated female mice mated with the GO-treated male mice could produce healthy pups. There were no significant differences in pup numbers, sex ratio, weights, pup survival rates or pup growth over time between the GO-treated and control groups. Furthermore, these GO-treated male mice could produce a second, third, fourth and even fifth litter of healthy offspring when they lived with the untreated female mice. The testicular and epididymal histology as well as the activities of several important epididymal enzymes including α-glucosidase, lactate dehydrogenase, glutathione peroxidase and acid phosphatase were not affected by GO treatment. In addition, no damaging effects were seen at high dose rates of GO (total 300 mg/kg male mouse, 60 mg/kg every 24 h for 5 days) via intra-abdominal injection. Thus, GO showed very low or nearly no toxicity for male reproduction. This work will greatly enable future investigations of GO nanosheets for in vivo biomedical applications.
Enhancement of SIV-specific cell mediated immune responses by co-administration of soluble PD-1 and Tim-3 as molecular adjuvants in mice

The development of an effective T cell based HIV vaccine would need to elicit cell mediated immune responses with superior magnitude, breadth, and quality. Since blocking the interactions between inhibitory receptors with their associated ligands using soluble PD-1 (sPD-1) and soluble Tim-3 (sTim-3) have been shown to reverse T cell exhaustion and enhance cell mediated immune responses, we tested if co-administration of sPD-1 and sTim-3 with an adenovirus vectored SIV vaccine (rAd5-SIV) can enhance cell mediated immune responses. The frequency of SIV antigen specific IFN-γ spot-forming cells and the secretion of IFN-γ and TNF-α by splenocytes from rAd5-SIV immunized mice was significantly increased when stimulated ex vivo with SIV peptides in the presence of sPD-1 or sTim-3 or both sPD-1 and sTim-3. The magnitude of cell mediated immune responses elicited by rAd5-SIV was enhanced by co-administration of sPD-1 and sTim-3. Co-administration of both sPD-1 and sTim-3 induced higher frequency of SIV antigen specific IFN-γ+ spot-forming cells to poorly immunogenic Vif and Tat. The percentage of cell mediated responses for each SIV antigen became more balanced, with reduction to Gag but induction to non-structural proteins. Furthermore, co-injection of rAd5-sPD1 and rAd5-sTim3 with rAd5-SIV in mice enhanced T cell proliferation capability and generated more antigen specific IFN-γ+ CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Our study provided a new approach to enhance vaccine induced cell mediated immune responses, which may be applicable to improve the efficacy of vaccines against SIV/HIV.
Risk Aversion and the Propensities for Self-Insurance and Self-Protection

For a risk-averse individual, the methods for reducing the expected financial impact of a loss include reducing the severity of any loss that occurs (self-insurance) and reducing the probability of the occurrence of a loss (self-protection). ' The literature on this topic has pointed to several anomalies, whereby the use of self-protection and self-insurance yield quite unsimilar results. For example, Ehrlich and Becker [5] show that self-insurance is always a substitute for market insurance (an insurance company's indemnifying a loss) whereas self-protection and market insurance might be complements. Dionne and Eeckhoudt [4] show that a more risk-averse consumer would always invest more in self-insurance activities, but not necessarily more in self-protection activities. They argue [4, 42] that this result is "counterintuitive" and provides an exception to "the widely accepted result that increased risk aversion reduces risky activities. " Ehrlich and Becker [5, 639] argue that "the incentive to self-protect. is not so dependent on attitude towards risk. " Both of the above papers seem to take for granted that self-protection activities reduce the riskiness of the final wealth distribution. However, as we argue below, this is not the case if "riskiness" is defined as in Rothschild and Stiglitz [14]. Even if we use the variance as our risk measure, we do not always reduce risk via self-protection. Dionne and Eeckhoudt suggest that these results might not be robust enough to extend to models that incorporate random initial wealth risk and state-dependent preferences. We show that the model seems to be very robust. We also explain why self-protection is not at all an exception to the long-standing result of Arrow [1], whereby more risk-averse individuals undertake a lower
The Impacts of Trade Barriers and Market Interventions on Maize Price Predictability: Evidence from Eastern and Southern Africa

There is continuing debate in east and southern Africa about the effects of food market reform on the welfare of small-scale farmers and low-income consumers. At the center of this debate is the perception that food prices have become more unstable in countries that have liberalized their staple food markets, thereby exacerbating the plight of poor consumers and farmers. This perception has led many governments in the region to shun an open maize borders policy and pursue a variety of food marketing and trade policy tools to stabilize food prices. Unfortunately, there remains a dearth of empirical evidence on the effects of alternative food marketing and trade policies, including that of liberalization, on price stability and predictability. Assessments of this issue are complicated by the fact that market reform programs are not monolithic in their design or implementation – impacts of reform on price instability may depend on variations in implementation. It would be particularly important to compare the magnitude of food price instability in countries that have embraced relatively comprehensive staple food market reform policies over time versus those in which the state continues to influence and stabilize food prices through the operations of marketing boards and controls on trade. This study examines the amplitude of price instability and unpredictability between countries using trade barriers and marketing board operations to stabilize prices versus countries with relatively open trade policies. Instability is defined as the unconditional variance in food prices over time, whereas unpredictability is defined as the unanticipated component of price instability, i.e., the conditional variance from a price forecast model.
Cleaning Up Third World Debt without Getting Taken to the Cleaners

hould taxpayers of wealthy countries finance a leveraged buyout of third world S debt? The case for establishing an international debt discount facility rests on the belief that the overhang of foreign commercial bank debt is stifling growth in the Highly Indebted Countries,1 and that coordination problems among private sector banks are blocking efficiency-enhancing debt reduction schemes.2 Thus there is scope for a multilateral government agency to step in, buy up the debts, and pass on the efficiency gains to struggling debtors. True, wealthy-country taxpayers would ultimately be liable for paying off the “junk” bonds issued to finance the leveraged buyout but the risks would be minimal, at least so the advocates say. Because the debt facility would buy up the debts at discount, it would be able to forgive a large enough fraction so that debtors could afford to repay the remainder. Our contention is that a debt discount facility would in fact be a black hole for aid funds, and would yield only minimal efficiency benefits. First, the costs of buying up the debt would considerably exceed estimates based on current secondary market prices. Experiences such as the 1988 Bolivian buyback and the 1989 Mexican debt
Worker responses to teamworking: exploring employee attributions of managerial motives

This paper examines employee views of why and how managers introduced teamworking at several sites within a steel company. Following a content analysis of employee comments we classify employee views of management motives into four main types: economic, political, institutional and cultural. Employees reported that managers were primarily driven by political rationales and implemented teamworking for reasons of self-interest. The economic rationales for management action were interpreted negatively as favouring shareholders and increasing worker insecurity. The introduction of teamworking also appeared to require a concerted attempt to enforce employee compliance, indicating that culture change was also an important factor. The views employees expressed of management intent are not adequately described by either recent advocates of high performance work systems or the critical perspective on human resource management although they appear central in understanding employee responses to management initiatives in these sites.
Fatal Envenomation of a Chilean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis) From Eastern Yellow Jacket Wasps (Vespula maculifrons)

Abstract A 37-year-old, female Chilean flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis) presented with severe facial angioedema, bilateral corneal and palpebral edema, nictitating membrane paralysis, bradycardia, bradypnea, hypothermia, and numerous stingers and remnants of eastern yellow jacket wasps (Vespula maculifrons) attached to the feathers of the head, palpebrae, and conjunctiva. Evaluation of 2 complete blood cell counts and results of plasma chemical analysis and serum protein electrophoresis revealed severe increases in creatinine phosphokinase and aspartate aminotransferase activity, electrolyte disturbances, and moderate increases in levels of α1, α2, β1, and γ immunoglobulins when compared with reference interval values and conspecifics. Despite intensive treatment, the bird died 19 hours after presentation. Results of histologic evaluation of tissues were compatible with envenomation. Response to envenomation in avian species is not documented but should be considered in birds presenting with angioedema.
Constitutive and Ligand-Induced TCR Degradation 1

Modulation of TCR expression levels is a central event during T cell development and activation, and it probably plays an important role in adjusting T cell responsiveness. Conflicting data have been published on down-regulation and degradation rates of the individual TCR subunits, and several divergent models for TCR down-regulation and degradation have been suggested. The aims of this study were to determine the rate constants for constitutive and ligand-induced TCR degradation and to determine whether the TCR subunits segregate or are processed as an intact unit during TCR down-regulation and degradation. We found that the TCR subunits in nonstimulated Jurkat cells were degraded with rate constants of ∼0.0011 min−1, resulting in a half-life of ∼10.5 h. Triggering of the TCR by anti-TCR Abs resulted in a 3-fold increase in the degradation rate constants to ∼0.0033 min−1, resulting in a half-life of ∼3.5 h. The subunits of the TCR complex were down-regulated from the cell surface and degraded with identical kinetics, and most likely remained associated during the passage throughout the endocytic pathway from the cell surface to the lysosomes. Similar results were obtained in studies of primary human Vβ8+ T cells stimulated with superantigen. Based on these results, the simplest model for TCR internalization, sorting, and degradation is proposed.