Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Amelioration of ferric nitrilotriacetate-induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats by diallylsulfide

Garlic contains diallylsulfide (DAS) and other structurally related compounds that are widely believed to be active agents in preventing cancer. This study shows the effect of DAS (a phenolic antioxidant used in foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products) on ferric nitrilotriacetate (Fe-NTA)-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Male albino rats of Wistar strain weighing 125–150 g were given a single dose of Fe-NTA (9 mg kg−1 body weight, intraperitoneally) after 1 week of treatment with 100 and 200 mg kg−1 DAS in corn oil respectively administered through the gavage. Fe-NTA administration led to 2.5-fold increase in the values of both alanine transaminase and aspartate aminotransferase, respectively, and 3.2-fold increase in the activity of lactate dehydrogenase, microsomal lipid peroxidation to approximately 2.0-fold compared to saline-treated control. The activities of glutathione (GSH) and other antioxidant enzymes decreased to a range of 2.2–2.5-fold. These changes were reversed significantly (p < 0.001) in animals receiving a pretreatment of DAS. DAS protected against hepatic lipid peroxidation, hydrogen peroxide generation, preserved GSH levels, and GSH metabolizing enzymes to 60–80% as compared to Fe-NTA alone-treated group. Present data suggest that DAS can ameliorate the toxic effects of Fe-NTA and suppress oxidant-induced tissue injury and hepatotoxicity in rats.
Split-Jaccard Distance of Hierarchical Decompositions for Software Architecture

SUMMARY Most previous approaches on comparing the results for software architecture recovery are designed to handle only ﬂat decompositions. In this paper, we propose a novel distance called Split-Jaccard Distance of Hierarchical Decompositions. It extends the Jaccard coe ﬃ cient and incorporates the concept of the splits of leaves in a hierarchical decomposition. We analyze the proposed distance and derive its properties, including the lower-bound and the metric space.
The Effects of Stakeholders on CSR Disclosure: Evidence from Japan

This paper examined the effects of stakeholders on firms’ CSR information disclosures. In Japan, many firms voluntarily disclose CSR information, with disclosure practices varying across firms. This paper quantified the CSR information released by 236 Japanese listed firms and examined the relationship between CSR information disclosures and the information needs of firm stakeholders. The results revealed that (1) the information needs of external stakeholders, including governments, creditors, consumers and local residents induced firms to disclose CSR information, (2) internal stakeholders have no effects on CSR information disclosure, and (3) CSR advocacy groups as intermediary stakeholders exerted a positive effect on CSR disclosure. The results suggest different relationship between CSR information disclosures and stakeholders’ information needs by CSR categories. These findings also reinforce the suggestion that the different stakeholder types (internal, external, and intermediary) have dissimilar CSR information needs. This research would contribute to our understanding of the effect of stakeholders on firms’ CSR information disclosure more inclusively.
A novel gene therapy to the graft organ by a rapid injection of naked DNA I: long-lasting gene expression in a rat model of limb transplantation

Background. It is important to develop a nontoxic gene transfer method for immunosuppressed patients. In this study, the authors applied a nonviral gene transfer method using rapid injection of naked DNA into the graft limb in rats. Methods. Naked DNA (&bgr;-galactosidase, luciferase, or green fluorescent protein expressing plasmid) was used to test an intravascular gene transfer approach in various conditions on the Lewis rat limb. Then, in a rat limb transplantation model, these marker genes were administered preoperatively (day −2) or perioperatively (day 0) to the graft limb by the authors’ “venous protocol. ” The expression level of luciferase was observed over a long period using a noninvasive living image acquisition IVIS system. Results. Effective intravascular delivery of gene to the rat limb was achieved by a rapid bolus injection of naked DNA through the femoral caudal epigastric vein. Using this procedure, the limb graft with the marker gene perioperatively in place was safely transplanted. After limb transplantation, sustained marker gene expression was observed for more than 2 months. Conclusions. This is the first report showing that the method of rapid injection of naked DNA into the limb can be applied to gene modification for organ transplantation.
Time-interleaved incremental data converters with low oversampling ratios

Incremental ADCs can operate at lower oversampling ratios than DeltaSigma modulators, resulting in higher input signal bandwidths. In this paper it is shown that time-interleaving can further increase the input signal bandwidth in incremental ADCs to the point that the oversampling ratio is equal to the time-interleaving factor, resulting in no decrease in the allowable input signal bandwidth due to oversampling. This paper investigates some of the advantages and challenges that time-interleaved incremental ADCs offer, and presents an example where a time-interleaved by 4 incremental ADC with an oversampling ratio of 4 can attain a resolution of 12 bits.
Application of Estrogen Receptor Immunocytochemical Assay to Aspirates From Mammographically Guided Fine Needle Biopsy of Nonpalpable Breast Lesions

The importance of hormone receptors in the management and prognosis of breast cancer is well established, but difficult to apply to the growing numbers of very small breast cancers being detected. To assess the feasibility of applying estrogen receptor immunocytochemical assay (ER-ICA) to cytologic specimens, we prospectively studied 100 patients who had fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of mammographically detected nonpalpable breast lesions. All 100 patients also had surgical excision of these nonpalpable lesions immediately after cytologic aspiration. Twenty malignancies were ultimately diagnosed by histology; 17 of them had been cytologically diagnosed. Using specific monoclonal antibody for estrogen receptor, we applied ER-ICA to cytologic preparation of 15 malignant neoplasms with sufficient cellular material available for the assay. Positive immunostaining was demonstrated in nine cases. No ER expression was seen in six cases. Immunocytochemical assay was also done on frozen tissue of the corresponding surgically removed tumors, with 86.6% concordance between the two results. This study is the first to demonstrate that ER-ICA can be effective in assessing hormone receptor content of mammographically directed cytologic aspirates.
Micro-Market Segmentation Using a Neural Network Model Approach

Abstract Market segmentation is one of the fundamental conceptual frameworks of the modern marketing theory and practice. Over time, several methods of market segmentation were proposed in the rich literature on the subject. In the past several years, a cluster analysis method was used to segment markets on various consumer behavioral bases. However, the more recent paradigm shift in marketing in favor of relationship marketing, growing importance of global marketing in diverse countries and focus on micro-market segments calls for better methodological tools for micro-market segmentation than the traditional parametric multivariate approaches with their methodological and practical limitations. In this context, in this paper it is proposed that a neural network model can be a viable alternative for micro-market segmentation. The neural network model applicability to micro-market segmentation was demonstrated with an empirical example.
Immunoblotting and Immunodetection

This unit provides protocols for immunoblotting, which is used to identify specific protein sequences separated by electrophoresis and transferred to an appropriate membrane and recognized by a polyclonal or monoclonal antibody. After the proteins are separated on a gel, they are transferred to a membrane by electroblotting or a semidry transfer system. Proteins on the membrane can be visualized with the reversible stain Ponceau S to assess the completeness of transfer. Then the blot is analyzed with antibodies. The primary antibody is specific for the protein(s) of interest; the secondary antibody (an anti‐Ig) is conjugated to horseradish peroxidase or alkaline phosphatase and detected colorimetrically or by chemiluminescence. The membrane can be stripped and reused for other probes.
Dynamics of service attributes: a test of Kano's theory of attractive quality

Purpose - The aim of the paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the theory of attractive quality through an empirical investigation of an e-service. Our focus is on the consistency of different levels of service attributes and their dynamics. Our empirical investigation aims to increase both the validity of the theory of attractive quality and the use of technology readiness as a means to understand the variation of customer perceptions of service attributes. Design/methodology/approach - A survey of customers' technology readiness, usage and perceptions of an e-service was conducted. Four propositions concerning the consistency and dynamics of Kano's theory of attractive quality are tested, mainly using general linear models. Findings - Our results show that by investigating customers at different stages of the service adoption curve, a better understanding of certain dynamics of service attributes can be achieved. When the e-service was introduced, it was perceived as indifferent; at present it is seen as an attractive service by the market. But the early adopters of e-services already regard it as a one-dimensional or a must-be service. Originality/value - The study provides a new framework and methodology for how to investigate the dynamics of service attributes, not only between individuals within different market segments, but also at different service attribute levels. From a managerial standpoint, our results suggest consequential insight about the life cycle of the services that an organization provides to its customers.
The Effect of a Seller's Unconscious Imitation on a Customer's Behavior and His Assessment of Staff and Store

During an experiment carried out in a retail setting, sellers imitated or not verbal and nonverbal customers' behaviors. It was found that imitation was associated with higher sales rate, greater compliance with the seller's suggestion during the selling process and greater positive evaluations of the seller and the store. Mediation analyses revealed that the level of the seller's competence evaluation mediated the relation between imitation and buying behavior. The managerial interest for sales training and buyer/seller interaction was discussed.
What Can Rational Investors Do About Excessive Volatility

We determine and analyze the trading strategy that would allow an investor to take advantage of the excessive stock price volatility that has been documented in the empirical literature on asset pricing. We construct a general equilibrium model where stock prices are excessively volatile because there are two classes of agents and one class places is overconfident about a public signal. As a result, these agents change their expectations too often, sometimes being excessively optimistic, sometimes being excessively pessimistic. We analyze the trading strategy of the rational investors who are not overconfident about the signal. While rational risk-arbitrageurs benefit from trading on their belief that the market is being foolish, when doing so they must hedge future fluctuations in the market's foolishness. We find that fixed-income instruments can be used for the purpose of hedging. Thus, our analysis illustrates that risk arbitrage cannot be based on just a current price divergence; it must include also a protection against trading risk. We also show that the presence of a few rational traders is not sufficient to eliminate the excessive volatility effect of overconfident investors generated by the presence of overconfident investors. Furthermore, overconfident investors of this kind tend to survive for a long time before being driven out of the market by rational investors.
Future Trends in Soft Computing Industrial Applications

The paper summarizes the current state of the art of applying soft computing solutions in the chemical industry, based on the experience of The Dow Chemical Company and projects the future trends in the field, based on the expected future industrial needs. Several examples of successful industrial applications of different soft computing techniques are given: automated operating discipline, based on fuzzy logic; empirical emulators of fundamental models, based on neural networks; accelerated new product development, based on genetic programming, and advanced process optimization, based on swarm intelligence. The impact of these applications is a significant improvement in process operation and in much faster modeling of new products. The expected future needs of industry are defined as: predictive marketing, accelerated new products diffusion, high-throughput modeling, manufacturing at economic optimum, predictive optimal supply-chain, intelligent security, emerging simplicity, and handling the curse of decentralization. The future trends that are expected from the soft computing technologies, which may satisfy these needs, are as follows: perception-based modeling, integrated systems, universal role of intelligent agents, models/rules with evolved structure, and swarm intelligence-based process control.
Quantitative analysis of respiratory, motor, and sensory function after supraclavicular block

The incidence and clinical significance of hemidiaphragmatic paresis after supraclavicular block of the brachial plexus is unknown.Eight healthy volunteers received a supraclavicular block with a standard technique using 30 mL of 1.5% lidocaine. Respiratory function was assessed with ultrasound of the diaphragm, respiratory inductive plethysmography (RIP), and pulmonary function tests (PFT) every 20 min. Sensory block was assessed with pinprick and motor block with isometric force dynamometry every 20 min. Four of eight subjects demonstrated hemidiaphragmatic paresis on both ultrasound and RIP. No subject experienced changes in PFT values or subjective symptoms of respiratory difficulty. Motor and sensory blockade outlasted hemidiaphragmatic paresis. These results are contrasted to the often symptomatic, 100% incidence of hemidiaphragmatic paresis seen after interscalene block. In this study of healthy volunteers, supraclavicular block was associated with a 50% incidence (95% confidence interval 14-86) of hemidiaphragmatic paresis that was not accompanied by clinical evidence of respiratory compromise. Implications: Interscalene block is always associated with diaphragmatic paralysis and respiratory compromise. The significance of these side effects after supraclavicular block is unknown. Using sensitive measures of respiratory function, we determined that diaphragmatic paralysis occurs less often with the supraclavicular approach and is not associated with respiratory difficulties in healthy subjects. (Anesth Analg 1998;86:1239-44)
Genetic associations between neuregulin-1 SNPs and neurocognitive function in multigenerational, multiplex schizophrenia families

Objectives Recent work shows promising associations between schizophrenia and polymorphisms in neuregulin-1 (NRG1) and a large literature also finds strong familial relationships between schizophrenia and cognitive deficits. Given the role of NRG1 in glutamate regulation and glutamate’s effect on cognition, we hypothesized that cognitive deficits may be related to variation within NRG1, providing a possible mechanism to increase risk for schizophrenia. Methods This study examined the associations between NRG1, cognition, and schizophrenia using a multigenerational multiplex family sample (total N=419, 40 families), including 58 affected participants (schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder-depressed type) and their 361 unaffected relatives. Participants were genotyped for 40 NRG1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), chosen largely based on previous associations with schizophrenia. All participants completed structured diagnostic interviews and a computerized neurocognitive battery assessing eight cognitive domains. Variance component quantitative trait analyses tested for associations between individual NRG1 SNPs and cognitive performance in the total sample, a subsample of healthy participants with no Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders diagnosis, and using general intelligence as a covariate. Results Effect sizes (within-family &bgr; coefficients) ranged from 0.08 to 0.73, and 61 of these associations were nominally significant (P⩽0.05), with 12 associations at P⩽0.01, although none achieved the modified Bonferroni significance threshold of P<0.0003. Attention was the most frequently nominally associated domain and rs10503929, a nonsynonymous SNP, was the most frequently nominally associated SNP. Conclusion Although not significant experiment-wise, these findings suggest that further study of the associations between variation in NRG1 and cognition may be productive.
Diagnosing the impact of retail bank customers’ perceived justice on their service recovery satisfaction and post-purchase behaviours: an empirical study in financial centre of middle east

Abstract The banking sector ranks among the top three sectors in terms of frequency of complaints. The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of perceived justice on recovery satisfaction and to examine the relationships between recovery satisfaction and customer relationship variables in the banking sector where there are lack of empirical studies. Empirical observations were made through questionnaires conducted with 178 retail bank customers in Dubai. The data are analysed through partial least squares (PLS) approach to path modelling to estimate the measurement and structural parameters. The results revealed that distributive justice (DJ), procedural justice (PJ) and interactional justice (IJ) had significant positive effects on service recovery satisfaction, while IJ has the strongest effect with respect to others. Also, service recovery satisfaction had a significant positive effect on trust. The structural model results also revealed that customers’ perceptions of trust had a significant positive effect on their WOM communication and repurchase intentions. The results of the study show that the service recovery satisfaction is a vital mediating variable between perceived justice of customers and customer relationship variables. Furthermore, the mediational role of trust between service recovery satisfaction and future intentions is extensive.
Manipulations in hydrogel chemistry control photoencapsulated chondrocyte behavior and their extracellular matrix production.

In engineering a cell-carrier to support cartilage growth, hydrogels provide a unique, largely aqueous environment for 3-dimensional chondrocyte culture that facilitates nutrient transport yet provides an elastic framework dictating tissue shape and supporting external loads. Although the gel environment is often >90% water, we demonstrate that slight variations in hydrogel chemistry control gel degradation, evolving macroscopic properties, and ultimately the secretion and distribution of extracellular matrix molecules. Specifically, biodegradable poly(ethylene glycol)-co-poly(lactic acid) hydrogels were fabricated via photopolymerization. When chondrocytes were photoencapsulated in these gels, changes in the poly(ethylene glycol)-co-poly(lactic acid) repeat unit ratio from 19 to 7 increased total collagen synthesis 2.5-fold after 6 weeks in vitro. Furthermore, the ratio of collagen to glycosaminoglycans varied from glycosaminoglycan-rich, 0.33 +/- 0.13, to collagen-rich, 4.58 +/- 1.21, depending on gel chemistry and in vitro versus in vivo culture environment. By tuning scaffold chemistry, and subsequently, gel structure and degradation behavior, we can better guide tissue evolution and development.
Modified lymphocyte response to mitogens induced by the lipopeptide fragment derived from Mycobacterium avium serovar-specific glycopeptidolipids

The beta-elimination procedure was used to obtain two major fragments of Mycobacterium avium glycopeptidolipid antigens. The lipopeptide fragment, not the oligosaccharide, diminished the mitogen-induced blastogenic response of spleen cells at concentrations lower than those which affected viability. Electron microscopy revealed an internalization of lipopeptide and disruption of intracellular organization.
Network gatekeeping in SME exporters’ market entry in China

– Small and medium-sized exporters (SMEs) are driven to develop a network entry strategy to tap into a new foreign market. The purpose of this paper is to draw on the network perspective to evaluate how a network gatekeeper facilitates a foreign SME exporter’s entry into local business networks in China. , – The single case study method was adopted. The Ule New Zealand Mall, an online shopping platform that sells New Zealand products in China, was selected in this case study. The authors applied the critical incident technique to evaluate the position of New Zealand Post (as a home country-based network gatekeeper), the roles within the position, and the key outcome of the network gatekeeping. , – The study discovers two key roles of network gatekeepers: bridging the gap in trust between outsider networks and insider networks; and reducing the costs of experiential learning for SME exporters. Finally, this study concludes that the “brokered insidership” position acquired by SME exporters is the key outcome of network gatekeeping in foreign market entry. , – This study advances the understanding of theories of structural holes, business network and gatekeeping. The authors articulate the critical position assumed by a network gatekeeper in bridging two otherwise disconnected business networks, and their key roles in networking. The study also proposes a new network concept – “brokered insidership”.
Improved test structures for the electrical measurement of feature size on an alternating aperture phase-shifting mask

Electrical test structures have been designed that are compatible with a standard alternating aperture, phase-shift mask manufacturing process. Measurements indicate that these have superior performance to previous designs where Greek cross structures suffered from asymmetry problems. As a result, the new test structures extract a consistent, and accurate, sheet resistance. In addition, the measurements on linewidth structures have demonstrated an improved capability with the CD offset variability being reduced to a quarter of the previous value. Electrical CD results from a wide range of test structures, both phase-shifted and binary, are presented and it is demonstrated that the phase-shifting elements have a negligible effect on the measurements. A limited number of atomic force microscope measurements have also been made for comparison purposes.