Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Intellectual Capital in Achieving a Competitive Advantage: A Field Study on Jordanian Private Universities in the Northern Region

This study aims to determine the role of intellectual capital and its elements (human capital, relational capital, structural capital) and to achieve the competitive advantage and its dimensions (quality, efficiency, innovation, responsiveness) in the Jordanian private universities in the northern region (Jadara university, Irbid national university, Jarash university, Philadelphia university),where the study sample (90) person of the total study population(120), so questionnaire was designed to verify approaches in the theoretical frameworks of the intellectual capital independent variable, and its relation to the dependent variables, which is the competitive advantage. The hypotheses were tested based on statistical analysis programs, one of the most important results of the study is the existence of a relation of statistical significant between intellectual capital and its three dimensions and achieving competitive advantage, where the study showed that the dimensions of human and social capital are more available than structural capital, so both of them are contributing in the competitive advantage more than structural
Perceptual Reparameterization of Material Properties

The recent increase in both the range and the subtlety of computer graphics techniques has greatly expanded the possibilities for synthesizing images. In many cases, however, the relationship between the parameters of an algorithm and the resulting perceptual effect is not straightforward. Since the ability to produce specific, intended effects is a natural pre-requisite for many scientific and artistic endeavors, this is a strong drawback. Here, we demonstrate a generalized method for determining both the qualitative and quantitative mapping between parameters and perception. Multidimensional Scaling extracts the metric structure of perceived similarity between the objects, as well as the transformation between similarity space and parameter space. Factor analysis of semantic differentials is used to determine the aesthetic structure of the stimulus set. Jointly, the results provide a description of how specific parameter changes can produce specific semantic changes. The method is demonstrated using two datasets. The first dataset consisted of glossy objects, which turned out to have a 2D similarity space and five primary semantic factors. The second dataset, transparent objects, can be described with a non-linear, 1D similarity map and six semantic factors. In both cases, roughly half of the factors represented aesthetic aspects of the stimuli, and half the low-level material properties. Perceptual reparameterization of computer graphics algorithms (such as those dealing with the representation of surface properties) offers the potential to improve their accessibility. This will not only allow easier generation of specific effects, but also enable more intuitive exploration of different image properties.
Real-Time Simulation-Based Multisolver Decoupling Technique for Complex Power-Electronics Circuits

This paper proposes a new method of decoupling and subdividing electrical circuits, containing power-electronics devices, in order to achieve fast and accurate real-time simulation. In this technique, each state variable can be discretized using different discretization methods. Combining implicit and explicit ODE solvers, state-space equations are decoupled while remaining accurate and stable. Unlike most traditional decoupling techniques previously proposed, the proposed one does not require artificial delay or supplementary states to be added in order to decouple the system. Furthermore, this technique is meant to be implemented with commercially available simulation software. By doing so, a large and complex circuit containing several hundreds of state variables can be easily and accurately simulated with minor modification to the existing models. Finally, stability and accuracy of the proposed technique are thoroughly demonstrated in a numerical example during steady state and under faulty conditions.
On the economic benefits of using Condition Monitoring Systems for maintenance management of wind power systems

The large growth in the wind power industry in the past years mainly focuses on a growing market and the development of large turbines and offshore farms. The high technical availability of wind turbines comes with a high need for frequent maintenance. Current maintenance planning is generally not optimized, and it is possible to make maintenance more efficient. Condition Monitoring Systems (CMS) are commonly used in other industries and can reduce the consequential damage at failure and provides advantages for the planning of the maintenance. It is of interest to determine if the wind industry would benefit of the use of CMS. This paper shows results from Life-Cycle-Cost (LCC) evaluated with probabilistic methods and sensitivity analysis to identify the benefit of using CMS. The results highlight that there is a high economic benefit of using CMS, as well as benefits on the risk. The benefit is highly influenced by the reliability of the gearbox.
FLIP-2 Study: Risk Factors Linked to Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection Requiring Hospitalization in Premature Infants Born in Spain at a Gestational Age of 32 to 35 Weeks

Background: Ex-premature infants are more predisposed to complicated primary respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. The aim of the present study was to validate the risk factors found in a previous epidemiologic case-control study regarding hospitalization as a result of RSV infection in premature infants born at 32–35 weeks of gestational age (WGA) in Spain. Methods: A prospective 2-cohort study was conducted during the 2005–2006 (October 2005 to April 2006) and 2006–2007 (October 2006 to April 2007) RSV seasons, respectively. Cases were premature infants hospitalized for RSV infection whereas controls were premature infants of the same age who did not require any hospitalization for respiratory causes. Results: During the study period 5441 children from 37 Spanish hospitals were included in the risk factor analysis. Two hundred two (3.7%) were cases and the rest controls. Of the cases, 17.8% were admitted to the intensive care unit and 7.4% required mechanical ventilation. None of the patients died. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the risk of RSV-related respiratory infection requiring hospital admission in preterm infants (32–35 WGA) was associated with the following factors: absolute chronologic age of ≤10 weeks at the onset of RSV season [odds ratio (OR): 2.99; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.23–4.01]; presence of school-age siblings or day care attendance (OR: 2.04; 95% CI: 1.53–2.74); and smoking during pregnancy (OR: 1.61; 95% CI: 1.16–2.25). Conclusions: In premature infants (32–35 WGA), only 3 independent risk factors were found to significantly increase the risk of RSV-related respiratory infection and hospitalization.
Monetary Regimes and External Shocks Reaction: Empirical Investigations on Eastern European Economies

In the late 90's, after severe financial crisis, accompanied by inflation and exchange rate instability, Eastern Europe emerged into two radically contrasting monetary regimes (Currency Boards and Inflation targeting). The task of our study is to compare econometrically the performance of these two regimes in terms of their resilience to the external real and nominal shocks, coming from Euro area. In other words, we test the non-neutrality of exchange rate regimes with respect to these connections. Our PVAR model results reveal that the choice of monetary regimes indeed determines the ability of a country to absorb the external shocks.
Bulk driven indirect feedback compensation technique for low-voltage applications

A new technique for indirect miller compensation is proposed which uses the bulk as an input to reduce the device count for creating necessary feedback signal in the indirect compensation method. This technique is useful for low voltage and low power amplifiers in submicron technologies and also it shows a greater bandwidth with respect to the other indirect techniques due to minimum internal nodes. The idea is simulated in 0.18um CMOS technology. Simulation shows the dc gain of 69dB and unity gain bandwidth of 47MHz for a 20pF load, 1.8-V power supply and 1.17mW power consumption.
Video‐assisted thoracoscopic surgery versus open thoracotomy for pulmonary metastasectomy: a systematic review

Pulmonary metastasectomy has become a popular procedure for patients with pulmonary metastases. It can be achieved via the traditional open thoracotomy or the more recently developed video‐assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). However, there has been much debate as to which approach is better in terms of detection of pulmonary metastases and, in turn, survival and recurrence outcomes. We aim to compare the two different approaches in terms of survival and recurrence outcomes.
Herpes simplex virus type 1 origin-specific binding protein: oriS-binding properties and effects of cellular proteins

The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) origin of replication, oriS, contains three highly homologous sequences, sites I, II, and III. The HSV-1 origin-binding protein (OBP), the product of the UL9 gene, has been shown to bind specifically to sites I and II. In this study, gel shift analysis was used to characterize interactions between site I DNA and proteins in infected and uninfected cell extracts. The formation of two protein-DNA complexes, bands A and B, was demonstrated with infected cell extracts, and one predominant protein-DNA complex, band M, was identified with mock-infected extracts. Protein interactions with the highly homologous site II and III DNAs were also characterized. Incubation of infected cell extracts with the lower-affinity site II DNA as a probe resulted in the appearance of two protein-DNA complexes with mobilities identical to those of the A and B complexes, while incubation with site III DNA resulted in the formation of a single complex with the mobility of band B; no A-like band was observed. Incubation of high concentrations of partially purified OBP with site I DNA resulted in the formation of two novel complexes, bands 9-1 and 9-2. Addition of uninfected or HSV-1-infected cell extracts to the purified OBP-site I DNA mix significantly enhanced the formation of complex 9-1. The enhanced formation of complex 9-1 by uninfected cell extracts implicates a cellular factor or factors in the formation or stabilization of the OBP-site I DNA complex.
Peroxide-inducible catalase in Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida protects against exogenous hydrogen peroxide and killing by activated rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss L., macrophages.

Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida expresses a single cytoplasmically located catalase which was found to be inducible by exposure to 20 microM hydrogen peroxide in mid-exponential phase resulting in a 4 fold increase in activity. Subsequent exposure to 2 mM peroxide in late-exponential/early-stationary phase resulted in further induction of catalase activity which increased to 20 fold higher levels than those found in uninduced cultures. Exponentially induced cultures were protected against subsequent exposure to 10 mM peroxide which was lethal to non-induced cultures. Bacteria subjected to induction in mid-exponential and early-stationary phase were resistant to 100 mM peroxide, although viability was greatly reduced. Growth of the bacterium under iron-restricted conditions had no effect on the peroxide induction of catalase. As current evidence indicates, the latter is an iron-co-factored heme catalase, this result suggests that catalase induction has a high priority in the metabolism of iron. Furthermore, exposure to peroxide also induces expression of periplasmic MnSOD. A. salmonicida MT423 was resistant to normal rainbow trout macrophages, but was susceptible to killing by activated macrophages. However, if catalase was induced by prior exposure to 20 microM peroxide during mid-exponential phase, A. salmonicida was resistant to killing by activated macrophages. The ability of A. salmonicida to upregulate periplasmic MnSOD and cytoplasmic catalase production under iron restricted conditions and low level peroxide (conditions expected to exist during the early stages of an infection) may be vital for its ability to withstand attack by phagocytic cells in vivo.
Graphics optimization for J2ME compatible mobile phones

Nowadays the high-resolution color screen becomes an inseparable component of modern mobile phones. Popular games, movies and 3D graphics capabilities require effective image rendering which is a task for both hardware and software engineers. The article is dedicated to the acceleration of low level graphics for J2ME based applications. It covers several aspects: algorithmic optimizations, use of embedded hardware accelerators, graphics performance measurement. Some high speed 2D graphics algorithms and most popular J2ME graphics benchmarks are considered. The issues related to the use of hardware graphics accelerators are discussed. And finally, practical results of low-level graphics optimization on Motorola phones are shown
Islet β-Cell-Specific MafA Transcription Requires the 5′-Flanking Conserved Region 3 Control Domain

ABSTRACT MafA is a key transcriptional activator of islet β cells, and its exclusive expression within β cells of the developing and adult pancreas is distinct among pancreatic regulators. Region 3 (base pairs −8118 to −7750 relative to the transcription start site), one of six conserved 5′ cis domains of the MafA promoter, is capable of directing β-cell-line-selective expression. Transgenic reporters of region 3 alone (R3), sequences spanning regions 1 to 6 (R1-6; base pairs −10428 to +230), and R1-6 lacking R3 (R1-6ΔR3) were generated. Only the R1-6 transgene was active in MafA+ insulin+ cells during development and in adult cells. R1-6 also mediated glucose-induced MafA expression. Conversely, pancreatic expression was not observed with the R3 or R1-6ΔR3 line, although much of the nonpancreatic expression pattern was shared between the R1-6 and R1-6ΔR3 lines. Further support for the importance of R3 was also shown, as the islet regulators Nkx6.1 and Pax6, but not NeuroD1, activated MafA in gel shift, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), and transfection assays and in vivo mouse knockout models. Lastly, ChIP demonstrated that Pax6 and Pdx-1 also bound to R1 and R6, potentially functioning in pancreatic and nonpancreatic expression. These data highlight the nature of the cis- and trans-acting factors controlling the β-cell-specific expression of MafA.
Mitochondria Modify Exercise-Induced Development of Stem Cell-Derived Neurons in the Adult Brain

Neural stem cells in the adult mammalian hippocampus continuously generate new functional neurons, which modify the hippocampal network and significantly contribute to cognitive processes and mood regulation. Here, we show that the development of new neurons from stem cells in adult mice is paralleled by extensive changes to mitochondrial mass, distribution, and shape. Moreover, exercise—a strong modifier of adult hippocampal neurogenesis—accelerates neuronal maturation and induces a profound increase in mitochondrial content and the presence of mitochondria in dendritic segments. Genetic inhibition of the activity of the mitochondrial fission factor dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) inhibits neurogenesis under basal and exercise conditions. Conversely, enhanced Drp1 activity furthers exercise-induced acceleration of neuronal maturation. Collectively, these results indicate that adult hippocampal neurogenesis requires adaptation of the mitochondrial compartment and suggest that mitochondria are targets for enhancing neurogenesis-dependent hippocampal plasticity.
Collective interaction by design collective controllers for social navigation on digital photos

This paper seeks to attract attention to the possibilities for designing for collaborative control and social negotiation in everyday interaction design. This work is starts out from the interaction model of collective interaction, which is a model depicting strong social connection between people interacting on a shared digital material with a shared goal. We adopt a research through design approach where we develop an exemplar collective interaction prototype for collective exploration of digital photos in the home and we evaluate the prototype in use. The exemplar prototype and experiences from trial use serves to refine the collective interaction model and identify qualities and shortcommings of collective interaction applications. In this way we wish to point to a design space, which can lead to new interaction techniques and -designs supporting shared social experiences around digital materials in everyday life.
Interleukin-6 is a novel factor mediating glucose homeostasis during skeletal muscle contraction.

The mechanisms that mediate the tightly controlled production and clearance of glucose during muscular work are unclear, and it has been suggested that an unidentified "work factor" exists that influences the contraction-induced increase in endogenous glucose production (EGP). The cytokine interleukin (IL)-6 is released from skeletal muscle during contraction. Here we show that IL-6 contributes to the contraction-induced increase in EGP. Six men performed 2 h of bicycle exercise on three separate occasions, at a relatively high intensity (HI) or at a low intensity with (LO + IL-6) or without (LO) an infusion of recombinant human IL-6 that matched the circulating concentration of IL-6 seen in HI exercise. The stable isotope 6,6 (2)H(2) glucose was infused to calculate EGP (rate of glucose appearance [R(a)]), whole-body glucose disposal (rate of glucose disappearance [R(d)]), and metabolic clearance rate (MCR) of glucose. Glucose R(a), R(d), and MCR were higher (P < 0.05) at HI than at LO. Throughout exercise at LO + IL-6, glucose R(a) and R(d) were higher (P < 0.05) than LO, even though the exercise intensity was identical. In addition, MCR was higher (P < 0.05) at LO + IL-6 than at LO at 90 min. Insulin, glucagon, epinephrine, norepinephrine, cortisol, and growth hormone were identical when comparing LO + IL-6 with LO. These data suggest that IL-6 influences glucose homeostasis during exercise. Our results provide potential new insights into factors that mediate glucose production and disposal and implicates IL-6 in the so-called "work factor. "
Effect of collagenase and hyaluronidase on free and anomalous diffusion in multicellular spheroids and xenografts.

BACKGROUND A critical step in the delivery of nanomedicines to tumour cells is transporting these particles through the extracellular matrix. Tumour-specific anticancer agents, such as encapsulated drugs, proteins, and genes, show low uptake in tumour tissue. It is not clear whether the collagen network or the glycosaminoglycan gel plays the most important role in limiting the interstitial transport of macromolecules. Therefore, we measured the effect of the collagen- and hyaluronan-degrading enzymes, collagenase and hyaluronidase, on interstitial diffusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS Human osteosarcomas were grown as multicellular spheroids and xenografts in dorsal skinfold window chambers. Diffusion of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran molecules was measured by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching based on two-photon scanning laser excitation. RESULTS Collagenase, hyaluronidase, and relaxin increased the diffusion coefficient of the 2-MDa FITC-dextrans in the spheroids, but 150-kDa FITC-dextran diffusion was not affected by the enzymatic treatment. In tumour tissue in vivo, collagenase and hyaluronidase increased the diffusion of the 150-kDa FITC-dextrans. In xenografts, anomalous diffusion occurred, whereas only free diffusion was seen in spheroids. CONCLUSION The results indicate that the collagen network has a greater impact on the interstitial diffusion of macromolecules in tumour tissue than the hyaluronan gel.
Power-Aware At-Speed Scan Test Methodology for Circuits with Synchronous Clocks

The BurstModetrade test clocking methodology, first presented in, is improved to handle circuits with synchronous clocks of different frequencies. An on-chip clock controller allows to select a large number of clock waveforms necessary to test synchronous cross-domain paths at-speed and control supply voltage variations. The methodology is applicable to both ATPG and BIST and only requires combinational analysis tools. The methodology is applied to a large circuit to adjust power supply margins of an at-speed BIST test.
Using institutional logics as cultural resources:a micro-perspective on organizational hybridity

How is organizational hybridity constructed at the micro-level? This overarching question is the starting point of this doctoral research. Studies to date suggested institutional entrepreneurs can combine institutional logics to create hybrid organizations. However, simply designing an organization as a hybrid does not a hybrid organization make. Instead, unsettle times within organizations may well provide an opportunity for organizational members, other than founders and entrepreneurs, to deploy available institutional logics as cultural resources. As a consequence, hybridity is constructed as an ongoing process. Yet, little is known about the logics available to organizational members in such settings, how these logics are deployed or with what outcomes to the organization. In this thesis, I adopt a social constructionist perspective to examine the active role played by organizational members at the micro-level, in constructing organizations as hybrids. Such an approach adds to studies challenging assumptions, within the extant literature, that hybridity is imposed upon organizations, potentially negative and requiring responses or management. In order to do so, I explore a recently established Community Interest Company (CIC) to shed light on how organizational members deploy available logics in relation to organizational form and identity. Overall, my empirical research leads me to: first, refine the idea of institutional logics as cultural resources within organizations; and second, show how organizational members affect organizational hybridity by deploying logics and interacting with other organizational members, leading to different outcomes. In doing so, this research answers calls to analyse the role of the micro-level in hybrid organizational research. Furthermore, it addresses gaps in the institutional logics literature related to how, and to what end, logics are used as cultural resources in organizations, and with what organizational outcomes. On a practical note, this research can potentially support members of hybrid organizations to incorporate and balance multiple institutional and organizational aspects, achieving the positive potential of hybridity.