Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transnational Consumer Cultures and Social Milieus

Using the emergence of postmodern consumer cultures as an example, the paper presents a socio-aesthetic market segmentation model that allows the identification of transnational consumer cultures (Social Milieus) without losing sight of national or regional peculiarities. The model is based on the Everyday-Life approach which combines the research logic of qualitative methods with the cognitive logic of phenomenological thinking. At the root of this is the conviction that an adequate understanding of the dynamics of consumer attitudes and consumer behaviour is only possible by researching people's subjective everyday reality and the structures of meaning linking them to it. It is argued that the Everyday-Life approach provides market research with an effective instrument, deployable the world over, that considerably enhances the accuracy of target group marketing measures and marketing communications.
Going Private Decision and Firm Characteristics: Evidence from the Regulation Change in Taiwan

Firms in Taiwan had been required to go public if their capital exceeds 200 million NT dollars since 1981. However, this capital threshold was lifted in November 2001. The main purpose of this research is to investigate the factors that may influence the going private decision due to the regulation change. The empirical results show that firms with distorted capital formation process at or after mandated public offerings choose to go private immediately after the deregulation. The results also indicate that firms with poor financial performances are more likely to go private. We conjectured it is due to the profitability requirement for firms to be listed in Taiwan Security Exchange or traded Over the Counter. Therefore, public firms will have incentives to go private if the listing seems mission impossible. The above finding provides the evidence that firms going private take consideration of costs and benefits of staying public.
Comparative Evaluation of a Chromogenic Agar Medium, the Modified Hodge Test, and a Battery of Meropenem-Inhibitor Discs for Detection of Carbapenemase Activity in Enterobacteriaceae

ABSTRACT Three phenotypic methods (modified Hodge test, chromogenic agar, and meropenem discs combined with specific inhibitors) used for the detection of carbapenemase activity were tested on a panel of characterized Enterobacteriaceae expressing various β-lactamase mechanisms. Overall, the meropenem-plus-inhibitor approach was more sensitive and specific than the other methods, despite its limitation of being unable to detect class D carbapenemases.
A carbon-wrapped nanoscaled thermometer for temperature control in biological environments.

AIMS A carbon-wrapped nanoscaled thermometer for a contactless temperature control in biological systems on the cellular level is presented. MATERIALS & METHODS The thermometer is based on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) filled with materials with strongly temperature-dependent nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) parameters. The NMR frequency shift and relaxation time were measured in cuprous-iodide-filled CNTs at different temperatures. RESULTS The experimental data indicate a pronounced temperature dependence of the NMR parameters, thereby realizing the nanoscaled thermometer. CONCLUSION This study is a proof-of-concept that the functionalized CNTs can be used as a contactless thermometer in biomedical applications.
Serum vaspin levels in type 2 diabetic women in relation to microvascular complications.

OBJECTIVE Vaspin is a novel adipokine that has insulin sensitizing effects. The association between serum vaspin levels and diabetic complications is unknown. In this study, we aimed to evaluate serum vaspin levels as related to glycemic status and the presence of complications in a group of type 2 diabetic women. MATERIALS AND METHODS We evaluated 37 type 2 diabetic female patients and 37 control female subjects who were matched for age and body-mass index. Anthropometric measurements, insulin, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), C-reactive protein, and serum vaspin levels were measured in each participant. Furthermore, the patients were evaluated for diabetic neuropathy, nephropathy, and retinopathy. RESULTS In diabetic patients, serum vaspin levels correlated positively with HbA1c and correlated negatively with insulin levels and homeostasis model assessment. The patients with HbA1c levels <or=7% had lower levels of serum vaspin than patients with HbA1c levels >7% (0.11+/-0.06 ng/ml versus 0.20+/-0.09 ng/ml, P<0.05). In patients with neuropathy, retinopathy, and nephropathy, serum vaspin levels were lower than in patients without neuropathy (0.10+/-0.07 ng/ml versus 0.17+/-0.09 ng/ml, P=0.041), retinopathy (0.11+/-0.06 ng/ml versus 0.18+/-0.09 ng/ml, P=0.019), and nephropathy, (0.11+/-0.05 ng/ml versus 0.18+/-0.09 ng/ml, P=0.02). Diabetic patients receiving metformin therapy had lower vaspin levels than patients not receiving metformin. CONCLUSION Diabetic women with good glycemic control have lower levels of vaspin than those with poor glycemic control. However, presence of microvascular complications is also associated with low vaspin levels. In order to use serum vaspin levels as a marker, evaluating patients for complications and medications interfering with serum vaspin levels seems appropriate.
The central arterial burden of the metabolic syndrome is similar in men and women: the SardiNIA Study.

AIMS We evaluated whether specific clusters of metabolic syndrome (MetS) components differentially impact on arterial structure and function, and whether the impact is similar in men and in women. METHODS AND RESULTS Components of the MetS and arterial properties were assessed in 6148 subjects, aged 14-102 in a cluster of four towns in Sardinia, Italy. MetS was defined in accordance with the ATP III criteria. Age groups were classified as: <35, 35-49, 50-64, and > or =65 years. Systolic blood pressure (BP), diastolic BP, pulse pressure, common carotid artery (CCA) diameter, intima-media thickness, distensibility, strain, stiffness index, wall stress, and aortic pulse wave velocity were measured. Common carotid artery plaque was defined as focal encroachment of the arterial wall and CCA calcification as acoustic shadowing. In any age group, subjects with MetS presented thicker, stiffer or less distensible, and wider large arteries than controls. The arterial burden of MetS increased as the number of altered MetS components increased. However, not all MetS components were associated with the same changes in arterial properties. In fact, specific clusters of MetS components, i.e. any combination of altered glucose tolerance, elevated BP, and elevated triglycerides (with or without abdominal obesity), dramatically increased age-associated arterial changes. The impact of MetS on arterial function was similar in men and women. CONCLUSION MetS accelerates age-associated arterial changes, even in older persons. However, not all the clusters of MetS components render the same burden on arterial structure and function.
When Hostile Consumers Wreak Havoc on Your Brand: The Phenomenon of Consumer Brand Sabotage

In recent years, companies have been confronted with a new type of negative consumer behavior: consumers who have turned hostile and who are strongly determined to cause damage to the brand. Empowered by new technological possibilities, an individual consumer can now wreak havoc on a brand with relatively little effort. In reflection of this new phenomenon, the authors introduce the concept of consumer brand sabotage (CBS). On the basis of different underlying motives, a conceptual framework distinguishes CBS (a form of hostile aggression: harming the brand as dominant motive) from other forms of negative consumer behavior, such as customer retaliation and negative word of mouth (instrumental aggression: harming a brand is only a means to achieve other objectives, e.g., restoring equity). This framework adapts insights from aggression and appraisal theories as well as qualitative interviews with actual saboteurs to a consumer–brand relationship context in order to develop an improved theoretical understanding of the under-researched phenomenon of CBS. The authors analyze the mental escalation processes of individual consumers toward CBS and develop a road map for future research.
Interconnect verification of multichip modules using boundary scan

Certainly one of the key factors in the manufacture of multichip modules (MCM) is the verification and fault diagnosis of an MCM's structural interconnects. High performance MCM products, which are clearly an expensive technology, will incur additional costs unless appropriate diagnostic tools are made available for fast failure analysis during production test. Boundary scan implementation is key in making these tools feasible. <<ETX>>
Antipituitary antibodies after traumatic brain injury: is head trauma-induced pituitary dysfunction associated with autoimmunity?

OBJECTIVE Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a devastating public health problem that may result in hypopituitarism. However, the mechanisms responsible for hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction due to TBI are still unclear. Although the antibodies against neurons have been demonstrated in injured animal studies, investigations regarding the occurrence of antipituitary antibodies (APAs) in patients with TBI are lacking in the literature. In order to investigate whether autoimmune mechanisms could play a role in the pituitary dysfunction after TBI, we have planned this study aimed at investigating the presence of APA at the third year of TBI and association between the TBI-induced hypopituitarism and APA. PATIENTS AND DESIGN Twenty-nine (25 males and 4 females; age 36.5+/-2.3 years) patients who had completed a 3-year follow-up after TBI were included in the present study. APA and pituitary function were evaluated in all the patients 3 years after TBI; moreover, APAs were tested also in sera of 60 age-/sex-matched normal controls. The APAs were investigated by an indirect immunofluorescence method. Results APAs were detected in 13 out of the 29 TBI patients (44.8%), but in none of the normal controls. Pituitary dysfunction development ratio was significantly higher in APA-positive patients (46.2%) when compared with APA-negative ones (12.5%; P=0.04). There was a significant association between APA positivity and hypopituitarism due to TBI (odds ratio: 2.25, 95% confidence intervals 1.1-4.6). Moreover, there was a significant positive correlation (r=0.74, P=0.004) between APA titer ratio and peak GH response to GHRH+GH related peptide (GHRP)-6 test, suggesting that high APA titers were associated with low GH response to GHRH+GHRP-6 test. CONCLUSIONS This study shows for the first time the presence of the APA in TBI patients 3 years after head trauma. Moreover, present investigation indicates preliminary evidence that APA may be associated with the development of TBI-induced pituitary dysfunction, thus suggesting that autoimmunity may contribute in the development of TBI-induced hypopituitarism. The presence of the association between APA and TBI-induced hypopituitarism may provide a new point of view in this field and promote further clinical and experimental studies.
The comparison of GLCM and granulometry for distinction of different classes of urban area

The paper describes the possibilities of using selected methods of texture analysis - Grey Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) and granulometry analysis - to isolate different classes of urban areas in the process of semi-automatic classification. To evaluate the effectiveness of each method the Jeffries-Matusita Distance method was applied. The study was conducted on the SPOT5 HRG (pixel 10m resolution) images. The research shows the high efficiency of the Haralick Correlation (one of GLCM features) method and granulometric analysis, in particular using its multiscaling.
Local Multiplayer Immersion Affected by 3D Stereoscopy

In this paper, we describe an experimental study, which evaluates how 3D stereoscopy affects player immersion in a possibly very distracting local multiplayer game. The game "Nicely Dicely" was specifically developed for this purpose, with 3D stereoscopy in mind, right from the beginning. Groups of participants were competitively playing the game in non-3D monoscopic and 3D stereoscopic presentations via a 3D compatible projector and corresponding active shutter glasses. In the following, we elaborate on the game and our quantitative and qualitative hybrid experiment design and methodology. An analysis of the resulting data will show that, indeed 3D stereoscopy significantly increases spatial presence, involvement and player immersion, even in a local multiplayer situation. Furthermore, some guiding insights relating the game's design will be illustrated.
The basic tilted helix bundle domain of the prolyl isomerase FKBP25 is a novel double-stranded RNA binding module

Abstract Prolyl isomerases are defined by a catalytic domain that facilitates the cis–trans interconversion of proline residues. In most cases, additional domains in these enzymes add important biological function, including recruitment to a set of protein substrates. Here, we report that the N-terminal basic tilted helix bundle (BTHB) domain of the human prolyl isomerase FKBP25 confers specific binding to double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). This binding is selective over DNA as well as single-stranded oligonucleotides. We find that FKBP25 RNA-association is required for its nucleolar localization and for the vast majority of its protein interactions, including those with 60S pre-ribosome and early ribosome biogenesis factors. An independent mobility of the BTHB and FKBP catalytic domains supports a model by which the N-terminus of FKBP25 is anchored to regions of dsRNA, whereas the FKBP domain is free to interact with neighboring proteins. Apart from the identification of the BTHB as a new dsRNA-binding module, this domain adds to the growing list of auxiliary functions used by prolyl isomerases to define their primary cellular targets.
Rapid Access to Genes of Biotechnologically Useful Enzymes by Partial Genome Sequencing: The Thermoalkaliphile Anaerobranca gottschalkii

Anaerobranca gottschalkii strain LBS3T is an extremophile living at high temperature (up to 65°C) and in alkaline environments (up to pH 10.5). An assembly of 696 DNA contigs representing about 96% of the 2.26-Mbp genome of A. gottschalkii has been generated with a low-sequence-coverage shotgun-sequencing strategy. The chosen sequencing strategy provided rapid and economical access to genes encoding key enzymes of the mono- and polysaccharide metabolism, without dilution of spare resources for extensive sequencing of genes lacking potential economical value. Five of these amylolytic enzymes of considerable commercial interest for biotechnological applications have been expressed and characterized in more detail after identification of their genes in the partial genome sequence: type I pullulanase, cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase), two α-amylases (AmyA and AmyB), and an α-1,4-glucan-branching enzyme.
Relative standing and the performance of recently acquired European firms

This study draws on the concepts of relative standing to explain the post-merger performance of recently acquired European firms. We used a 2 x 3 sampling design where we surveyed top managers of British and French firms that were acquired by British, French, and U.S. firms as to their perceptions of cultural compatibility with the buying firms, their sense of loss of autonomy since the merger, and post-merger performance. While we found that the theory adequately explains the post-merger performance of both British and French firms, suggesting that this primarily 'made-in-the-United States' organization theory extends beyond the cultural domain of the United States, we also found an aspect of the theory that reflects a possible cultural bias. 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Adrenal gland responses to lipopolysaccharide after stress and ethanol administration in male rats

All forms of stress, including restraint stress (RS) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration, activate the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. LPS binds to a recognition protein (CD14) and toll-like receptor 2/4 in different cells and tissues, including the adrenal gland, to induce the production of cytokines and cause upregulation of cyclooxygenase and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) enzymes. Acute ethanol exposure activates the HPA axis, but in some conditions prolonged administration can dampen this activation as well as decrease the inflammatory responses to LPS. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the adrenal response to a challenge dose of LPS (50 μg/kg) injected i.p., after submitting male rats to RS, twice a day (2 h each time) for 5 days and/or ethanol administration (3 g/kg) by gavage also for 5 days, twice daily. At the end of the experiment, plasma corticosterone concentrations and adrenal gland content of prostaglandin E (PGE) and NOS activity were measured as stress mediators. The results showed that repetitive ethanol administration attenuated the adrenal stress response to LPS challenge alone and after RS, by preventing the increase in plasma corticosterone concentrations and by decreasing the PGE content and NOS activity in the adrenal gland. Therefore, we conclude that moderate alcohol consumption could attenuate the effects of psychophysical stress and impair an inflammatory response.
Latency analysis of a contention based MAC protocol for Sensor Networks

We consider the IEEE 802.11 RTS/CTS Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol and its Sensor Networks variant, namely SMAC. We derive analytical results for the expected latency of a data packet to traverse a single N-hops route under specific conditions. We then validate the obtained results through probabilistic model checking verification of discrete time Markovian models of the considered topology.
Getting a Handle on Smart Drug Delivery Systems – A Comprehensive View of Therapeutic Targeting Strategies

Smart drug delivery system (SDDS) is a recently emerging therapeutic approach, now turning into a conventional model to deliver drug to specific sites or target. Drug tar‐ geted (DT) delivery systems maintain the concentration of the drugs at desirable doses in the body and avoid the need for repeated doses. The DT delivery system have specific distinguishing features such as self-regulated, pre-programmed, multitargeted, controlled by timely response, monitoring of the targeted drug delivery, re‐ sponsive to pH, and spatially targeted. The DT delivery system exploits the biological membrane changes in the physiology of malignant cells to increase absorption or en‐ try of drug-coated nanoparticles into targeted tissues. This system delivers a certain quantity of a therapeutic drug for longevity of its action to a targeted area within the human tissue, which in turn enhances efficacy of the treatment by reducing the side effects of drug administration. A new DT therapy strategy is a health improvement technique used in future generations for treatment of genetic diseases and intelligent drug delivery. The ultimate goal of SDDS is to administrate the drugs at the correct time with an exact dose in the body and with efficiency and specificity to the targeted cells that help the patients better adhere to their therapy regimen. The DT system en‐ hances the maintenance of drug levels in targeted tissues and plasma without any de‐ struction to the healthy tissues. This DT delivery system uses various strategies in targeting cells, drug delivery mechanisms, properties of targeted drug, organ-based targeted sites, disease, and drug-targeted vehicles. This chapter deals with all aspects of drug targeting and provides an overview of approaches in drug targeting, drug de‐ livery vehicles, and strategies involved in successful delivery.
Determinants of market entry modes used by Universities to expand internationally

The article analyses determinants of the market entry modes used by corporate firms to expand internationally and explore whether higher education institutions use the same determinants to decide on mode adopted to enter the market. Determinants like transaction costs, location advantage, idiosyncratic capabilities, isomorphic pressure to mimic, psychic distance, uncertainty, risks, the control over academic process, previous internationalisation experience and entry to homogenous markets are considered with regards to universities. A sample consisting of 40+ branch campuses from United Arab Emirates (UAE), host to highest number of branch campuses, is selected to study the determinants of the entry modes adopted. The aim of this article is not to prescribe or offer a solution for the best-available model of market entry that can be adopted by universities but rather to act as a trigger for a critical check up on universities planning to internationalize their offering. Determinants like idiosyncratic capabilities, isomorphic pressure and control over the academic process were found to be most prevalent. However, determinants like transaction cost efficiency, internationalisation experience, psychic distance, uncertainty and risks are not significant factors.
Human Resource Management Practices And Organizational Innovation: An Empirical Study In Malaysia

With rapid globalization, firms particularly those in the manufacturing sector have to continuously innovate for competitive advantage. One way to do so is via effective human resource management practices (thereafter termed as HRM). The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and organizational innovation. We employed a cross-sectional design with a sample comprised of 674 large manufacturing companies from six states in Malaysia which were identified as having a high percentage of innovating companies (Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Malaysia (MOSTI), 2006). Our independent variables comprised of five HRM practices (performance appraisal, career management, training, reward system, and recruitment). Three types of organizational innovation (product innovation, process innovation, and administrative innovation) served as our dependent variables. Our findings provided partial support for our main hypothesis. Training alone was found to have a positive and significant effect bon the three forms of organizational innovation. In addition, performance appraisal positively and significantly affects administrative innovation. Despite the fact that our research framework was partially supported, our study highlights the profound role played by training in stimulating organizational innovation in the context of the manufacturing industry of Malaysia. I mplications of our findings and limitations of the research were discussed.
Cross‐cultural competitive intelligence strategies

Purpose – Competitive intelligence (CI) is a promising tool in the strategic planning arsenal of top managers. As companies expand globally, it is imperative that CI be conducted across national boundaries and cultures. The practice of CI in various international markets is clearly impacted by the cultural context of gathering and analyzing information. Therefore, one of the key ingredients to successfully conducting CI globally is the ability to understand the local culture and business practices, and then integrate this knowledge within contemporary CI strategies. This paper aims to address these issues.Design/methodology/approach – This study analyses CI practices in the developed markets of Europe and Japan, as well as the emerging markets of China, Russia, South Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East by using extant literature, primary as well as secondary sources.Findings – Owning to the complexity of cross‐cultural CI practices, often companies fail in their entry into foreign markets. This is .