Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Corporate Financial Policy and the Value of Cash under Uncertainty

In this paper we provide evidence on how firm-specific and macroeconomic uncertainty affects shareholders' valuation of a firm's cash holdings. This extends previous work on this issue by highlighting the importance of the source of uncertainty. Our findings indicate that increases in firm-specific risk generally increase the value of cash while increases in macroeconomic risk generally decrease the value of cash. These findings are robust to alternative definitions of the unexpected change in cash. We extend our analysis to financially constrained and unconstrained firms.
Development of THz Gyrotrons at IAP RAS and FIR UF and Their Applications in Physical Research and High-Power THz Technologies

In this paper, we present some of the most significant recent results that characterize the state of the art in the development of sub-THz and THz gyrotrons at IAP-RAS and FIR-UF after 15 years of collaboration as well as their applications in various novel and prospective research fields and advanced technologies.
A study of management development and parameters of managerial effectiveness in the Iranian car manufacturing industry

ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. vi CONTENT PAGES. viii LIST OF TABLES. xv LIST OF FIGURES. xvii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1. M anagers and their Effectiveness. 1 1.2. The S tatem ent of the Research P rob lem . 3 1.3. The M ain Objectives of the S tu d y . 5 1.3. 1. R esearch Q u estio n . 6 1.4. The Scope of the S tu d y . 7 1.5. The S tructure of the T h e s is . 12 CHAPTER TWO: MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE In tro d u c tio n . 17 2.1. Part One: The Need for Managerial Effectiveness.20 2.1.1. W hat Do M anagers D o? 20 2 . 1 . 2 . M anagerial R oles. 25 2.1.2.1. Interpersonal Roles of Managers. 26
DNS-Based Service Discovery

This document specifies how DNS resource records are named and structured to facilitate service discovery. Given a type of service that a client is looking for, and a domain in which the client is looking for that service, this mechanism allows clients to discover a list of named instances of that desired service, using standard DNS queries. This mechanism is referred to as DNS-based Service Discovery, or DNS-SD.
Improved Lower Bounds on Time-of-Arrival Estimation Error in Realistic UWB Channels

This paper investigates lower bounds on time-of-arrival (ToA) estimation error for ultrawide bandwidth ranging systems operating in realistic multipath environments. Based on the Ziv-Zakai lower bound, we derive a lower bound for the ToA estimation error using both the IEEE 802.15. 4a channel models and experimentally measured data. It is shown that for practical signal-to-noise values the classical Cramer-Rao lower bound is too optimistic when operating in dense multipath environments
Relative Performance and Predictive Values of Plasma and Dried Blood Spots with Filter Paper Sampling Techniques and Dilutions of the Lymphatic Filariasis Og4C3 Antigen ELISA for Samples from Myanmar

Diagnostic testing of blood samples for parasite antigen Og4C3 is used to assess Wuchereria bancrofti in endemic populations. However, the Tropbio ELISA recommends that plasma and dried blood spots (DBS) prepared using filter paper be used at different dilutions, making it uncertain whether these two methods and dilutions give similar results, especially at low levels of residual infection or resurgence during the post-program phase. We compared results obtained using samples of plasma and DBS taken simultaneously from 104 young adults in Myanmar in 2014, of whom 50 (48.1%) were positive for filariasis antigen by rapid antigen test. Results from DBS tests at recommended dilution were significantly lower than results from plasma tested at recommended dilution, with comparisons between plasma and DBS at unmatched dilutions yielding low sensitivity and negative predictive values of 60.0% and 70.6% respectively. While collection of capillary blood on DBS is cheaper and easier to perform than collecting plasma or serum, and does not need to be stored frozen, dilutions between different versions of the test must be reconciled or an adjustment factor applied.
Resourceful and creative methods are necessary to research rare disorders

1 Centre for Child Health Research, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia. 2 Department of Paediatrics, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China. 3 Department of Neurology, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth, Australia. 4 School of Physiotherapy and Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
Modelisation Intermediaire entre Equations Cinetiques et Limites hydrodynamiques : Derivation, Analyse et Simulations

Ce travail est consacre a l’etude d’un probleme issu de la physique des plasmas : le transfert thermique des electrons dans un plasma proche de l’equilibre Maxwellien. Dans un premier temps, le regime asymptotique de Spitzer-Harm est etudie. Un modele propose par Schurtz et Nicolai est situe dans le contexte des limites hydrodynamiques hors du cadre strictement asymptotique et analyse. Le lien avec les modeles non-locaux de Luciani et Mora est etabli, ainsi que des proprietes mathematiques comme le principe du maximum et la dissipation d’entropie. Ensuite, une derivation formelle a partir des equations de Vlasov est proposee. Une hierarchie de modeles intermediaires entre les equations cinetiques et la limite hydrodynamique est decrite. Notamment, un nouveau systeme hydrodynamique, de nature integro-differentielle, est propose. Le systeme de Schurtz et Nicolai apparait comme une simplification du systeme issu de la derivation. L’existence et l’unicite de la solution du systeme non stationnaire sont etablies dans un cadre simplifie. La derniere partie est consacree a la mise en oeuvre d’un schema numerique specifique pour resoudre ces modeles. On propose une approche par volumes finis pouvant etre efficace sur des maillages non-structures. La precision de ce schema permet de capturer des effets specifiques de nature cinetique, qui ne peuvent etre reproduits par le modele asymptotique de Spitzer–Harm. La consistance de ce schema avec celui de l’equation de Spitzer–Harm est mise en evidence, ouvrant la voie a des strategies de couplage entre les deux modelisations.
Chromosome transfer between Escherichia coli HFR strains and Proteus mirabilis.

Abstract : The successful hybridization of Proteus with E. coli chromosomal genes provides a potentially useful model for studying molecular genetics with a combined genetic and biophysical approach. It is now conceivable to expect that bacterial hybrids consisting of appropriate portions of chromosomal genes derived from various genera will be constructed. Such hybridized strains would be useful for the investigation of virus-bacterial host interactions, the genetics basis of bacterial virulence, evolutionary and taxonomic problems of bacterial identification as well as the development of vaccines. (Author)
Interface cerveau-machine à partir d'enregistrement électrique cortical

Une Interface Cerveau-Machine (ICM) est un systeme permettant de transformer l'activite neurale du cerveau en une commande d'effecteurs externes. Cette etude correspond a une etape vers une ICM totalement autonome fonctionnant dans un environnement naturel ce qui est d'une importance cruciale pour les futures applications cliniques d'une ICM. Pour representer l'environnement naturel, des experiences avec une ICM binaire asynchrone ont ete realisees avec des animaux libres de se mouvoir. En comparaison avec les etudes precedentes, des experiences sur le long terme ont ete realisees, ce qui est plus conforme aux exigences des applications de la vie reelle. L'objectif principal de cette etude est de differencier le modele specifique neuronal lie a l'intention d'action de l'activite de fond du cerveau chez des animaux libres de tous mouvements. Pour atteindre le niveau necessaire de selectivite, l'analyse Multi-Voies PLS a ete choisie sachant qu'elle fournit simultanement un traitement du signal dans plusieurs domaines, a savoir, temporel, frequentiel et spatial. Pour ameliorer la capacite de l'approche generique Multi-Voies PLS pour le traitement de donnees a grandes dimensions, l'algorithme « Iterative NPLS » est introduit dans notre travail. En ayant des besoins plus faibles en memoire, cet algorithme fournit des traitements de grands ensembles de donnees, permet une resolution elevee, preserve l'exactitude de l'algorithme generique et demontre une meilleure robustesse. Pour la calibration adaptative d'un systeme ICM, l'algorithme recursif NPLS est propose. Finalement, l'algorithme penalise NPLS est developpe pour la selection efficace d'un sous-ensemble de fonctions, a savoir, un sous-ensemble d'electrodes. Les algorithmes proposes ont ete testes sur des ensembles de donnees artificielles et reelles. Ils ont demontre une performance qui est comparable a celle d'un algorithme generique NPLS. Leur efficacite de calcul est acceptable pour les applications en temps reel. Les algorithmes developpes ont ete appliques a la calibration d'un systeme ICM et ont ete utilises dans des experiences d'ICM avec bouclage en temps reel chez des animaux. Enfin, les methodes proposees representent une approche prospective pour de futurs developpements de systemes ICM humains.
Inhibition of p63 Transcriptional Activity by p14ARF: Functional and Physical Link between Human ARF Tumor Suppressor and a Member of the p53 Family

ABSTRACT The ARF/MDM2/p53 pathway is a principal defense mechanism to protect the organism from uncontrolled effects of deregulated oncogenes. Oncogenes activate ARF, which interacts with and inhibits the ubiquitin ligase MDM2, resulting in p53 stabilization and activation. Once stabilized and activated, p53 can either induce or repress a wide array of different gene targets, which in turn can regulate cell cycle, DNA repair, and a number of apoptosis-related genes. Here we show that, unlike p53, p63, a member of the p53 family, directly interacts with p14ARF. Through this interaction ARF inhibits p63-mediated transactivation and transrepression. In p63-transfected cells, ARF, which normally localizes into nucleoli, accumulates in the nucleoplasm. Based on these observations, we suggest that stimuli inducing p14ARF expression can, at the same time, activate p53 and impair p63 transcriptional activity, altering the pattern of p53 target gene expression. Here we show, for the first time, a physical and functional link between the p14ARF tumor suppressor protein and p63, a member of the p53 family.
Commande hybride position/force pour la teleoperation : une approche basee sur des analogies mecaniques

Pour ameliorer la surete et l'efficacite des taches effectuees en teleoperation, il est necessaire de developper des nouveaux modes de commande qui allient la precision et la repetabilite de la machine avec la flexibilite et le bon sens de l'operateur. Le concept de mecanisme virtuel, presente dans cette these, permet de specifier des modes de commande tres divers pour la telemanipulation avec retour d'effort sur l'operateur. Il permet de combiner le mode bilateral, la commande hybride position/force et la commande d'impedance. L'analogie mecanique permet de visualiser de maniere tres explicite le comportement du systeme, meme dans des situations complexes. La loi de commande proposee pour realiser le comportement definit par le mecanisme virtuel est basee, elle aussi, sur une analogie physique. Le systeme se comporte comme s'il etait relie au mecanisme virtuel par un ressort et un amortisseur. Le systeme asservi est alors passif. Ceci permet de garantir la stabilite du systeme, malgre de grandes incertitudes sur les dynamiques du systeme et de son environnement. Une importance toute particuliere a ete accordee aux consideration pratiques. L'approche presentee permet de limiter les deplacements du systeme, ainsi que sa vitesse. Des algorithmes sont donnes pour gerer efficacement la transition entre les differents modes de commande. Enfin, le reglage des gains d'asservissement pour un systeme de teleoperation donne peut etre fait une fois pour toutes, independamment de la tache et du mode de commande utilise par la suite. Les resultats theoriques ont ete valides sur trois systemes de teleoperation, comportant des bras tres divers, a actionnement electrique ou hydraulique, cinematiquement redondants ou non.
Effect of gastric bypass and gastric banding on proneurotensin levels in morbidly obese patients.

CONTEXT Neurotensin is produced mainly in the N cells of the ileum and has a role in appetite regulation; levels are decreased in obese subjects and increase after bariatric surgery. Mature neurotensin is very unstable, with a short half-life. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to compare baseline and postoperative levels of the more stable neurotensin precursor, proneurotensin/neuromedin (pro-NT/NMN), in patients after gastric banding, gastric bypass, and nonoperated controls, respectively, during long-term follow-up. DESIGN AND SETTING This was a prospective observational study in a university hospital. PARTICIPANTS AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Overnight fasting plasma pro-NT/NMN concentrations were measured with a new sandwich immunoassay in morbidly obese subjects at baseline and 6, 12, and 24 months after gastric banding (n = 8), Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (n = 5), and in nonoperated controls (n = 7). RESULTS After gastric bypass and banding, body weight decreased by (mean +/- sd) 29.5 +/- 5.5 and 22.8 +/- 5.9 kg, respectively. The decrease after 3 and 6 months was more pronounced after gastric bypass compared with gastric banding (P < 0.05). Plasma pro-NT/NMN levels in patients after gastric bypass increased from 246.3 +/- 174.3 pmol/liter on admission to 748.3 +/- 429.6 pmol/liter after 24 months (P < 0.01). In contrast, in patients with gastric banding, pro-NT/NMN concentrations remained stable (207.3 +/- 60.5 pmol/liter at admission, 226.6 +/- 116.8 pmol/liter after 24 months). Neither body weight nor plasma pro-NT/NMN levels changed in nonoperated controls. CONCLUSION Plasma pro-NT/NMN levels show a more pronounced increase after gastric bypass compared with gastric banding, suggesting that specific bariatric surgical procedures result in distinct alterations of gastrointestinal hormone metabolism. The more stable precursor pro-NT/NMN provides a new tool to quantify neurotensin levels in clinical practice.
A method for predicting DCT-based denoising efficiency for grayscale images corrupted by AWGN and additive spatially correlated noise

Results of denoising based on discrete cosine transform for a wide class of images corrupted by additive noise are obtained. Three types of noise are analyzed: additive white Gaussian noise and additive spatially correlated Gaussian noise with middle and high correlation levels. TID2013 image database and some additional images are taken as test images. Conventional DCT filter and BM3D are used as denoising techniques. Denoising efficiency is described by PSNR and PSNR-HVS-M metrics. Within hard-thresholding denoising mechanism, DCT-spectrum coefficient statistics are used to characterize images and, subsequently, denoising efficiency for them. Results of denoising efficiency are fitted for such statistics and efficient approximations are obtained. It is shown that the obtained approximations provide high accuracy of prediction of denoising efficiency.
Bispectral index changes during generalised tonic‐clonic seizures

A 21-year-old female presenting for emergency laparoscopic appendicectomy was given 50 mg cyclizine (Amdipharm Mercury Company Ltd., Croyden, UK) and 5 mg morphine intravenously, in the emergency department. Shortly after, she reported numbness and a heavy sensation in her left arm, without slurring of speech or facial asymmetry. Sensation, movement and power were normal in all four limbs. An adverse drug reaction to cyclizine was considered possible but this was not documented in the patient’s notes or on her drug chart. Surgery and anaesthesia the following day were uneventful, and involved the administration of propofol, suxamethonium, sevoflurane, rocuronium, fentanyl, morphine, ondansetron, dexamethasone, glycopyronium and neostigmine. Her immediate postoperative recovery was uneventful. That evening, she was given 50 mg cyclizine in 20 ml saline 0.9% intravenously, for nausea. After 5 ml had been injected, she complained of pain in the same arm. The injection was stopped, but she went on to report radiation of the pain to her left arm and a ‘strange feeling’, before progressing to respiratory arrest. Spontaneous recovery occurred within 3 min, supported by high-flow oxygen, and no further respiratory support was required. She made a full recovery and an adverse reaction to cyclizine was documented in her medical notes. She described her experience of having been aware of everything happening around her and hearing speech, but without being able to move, talk or speak herself. A yellow card was completed for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, detailing transient paralysis in response to cyclizine administration. Transient respiratory paralysis has previously been reported in an anaesthetised patient [1] and in two patients with known neuromuscular disorders [2], but we believe this to be the only reported case of transient respiratory paralysis in an otherwise healthy patient recovering from surgery.
Bis(4-aminopyridinium) sulfate monohydrate

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, 2C5H7N2 +·SO4 2−·H2O, contains two 4-aminopyridinium cations (A and B), a sulfate dianion and a water molecule. One of the 4-aminopyridinium cations (B) is disordered over two orientations with refined site occupancies of 0.568 (4) and 0.432 (4). The non-H atoms of the 4-aminopyridinium cations are essentially coplanar, with a maximum deviation of 0.055 (1) Å (in cation A), 0.022 (3) Å (for the major component in cation B) and 0.009 (3) Å (for the minor component in cation B). In the crystal, the sulfate O atoms link the 4-aminopyridinium cations and water molecules into a three-dimensional network via intermolecular O—H⋯O, N—H⋯O and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The crystal structure is further consolidated by N—H⋯O(water) and C—H⋯O(water) hydrogen bonds.
The Practice and Future of Financing Science, Technology, and Innovation

The importance of financing science, technology and innovation (STI) is growing increasingly relevant and is changing its content. New, more comprehensive financing mechanisms are emerging. With STI costs rising and government budgets shrinking, research and innovation has become more cooperative and network-based. The paper discusses the different instruments and incentives available for governments to improve the financing of innovation. Two case studies illustrate government efforts from the United Kingdom and Brazil towards innovation financing issues. Lastly, recent and future STI financing trends are reviewed. Governments continue to play a crucial and determining role in STI financing, whether through financial incentives, fiscal incentives or a mix of both. Countries with low national innovation performance should assign more weight to fiscal incentives, while countries with high innovation performance financial incentives prove more efficient.
Strip-tillage : A conservation option for Wisconsin farmers

Wisconsin growers have a renewed interest in conservation tillage systems, driven by rising fuel and equipment costs, the desire to plant crops in a timely manner, and concerns about soil conservation because of catastrophic erosion events. Recent increases in crop acres managed by individual producers also favor practices that allow growers to cover more acres in less time than would be possible with conventional tillage. Ideally a conservation tillage system permits farmers to conserve soil without a reduction in profitability. The easiest approach to conservation tillage is not tilling at all and simply planting into the crop residue on the field. Historically, no-tillage management has been a challenge for corn production in Wisconsin because the crop residue left on an untilled field slows soil warming in the spring, leading to delayed germination and growth. Residue can also physically impair planting by causing plugging within the planting unit and “hair-pinning” residue in the seed slot. Therefore, most of those who have employed no-tillage management have used corn planters modified to include some type of in-row residue management attachment, either as finger coulters or disks that are designed to move some residue from the row without substantial contact with the soil. Still, the problems associated with residue and delayed soil-warming mean that only 10–15% of the corn crop and 30–40% of the soybean crop is no-till planted in Wisconsin every year.
Changes in propofol concentration in a propofol-lidocaine 9:1 volume mixture.

P ropofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol) is widely used for the induction and maintenance of anesthesia as well as for sedation of intensive care patients. However, a 30%–70% incidence of pain associated with IV injection is one important source of patient dissatisfaction (1). Although several methods for alleviating pain have been described (2), the addition of lidocaine is one of the most common methods in clinical practice. The manufacturer of propofol recommends administration of the propofol-lidocaine mixture immediately after preparation, without specifying any safety period. To date, the only published study regarding the compatibility of propofol and lidocaine dealt with changes in the microscopic appearance of emulsion after mixing and in the zeta potential of various combination doses (4). More importantly, the chemical stability of the propofollidocaine mixture has never been addressed. The characteristics of a colorless, liquid, separate layer that appears on the surface of the emulsion after the addition of lidocaine to propofol (5) suggest that it is propofol, per se. Accordingly, the purpose of our study was to test a hypothesis that propofol is dissociated as a immiscible layer after the addition of lidocaine and, as a consequence, propofol concentrations decrease in a time-dependent manner in the propofollidocaine mixture. We made serial determinations of propofol concentrations by gas chromatography (GC) for 24 h after the preparation of a clinically relevant combination dose of propofol and lidocaine.
Histochemical Localization of Caldesmon in the CNS and Ganglia of the Mouse

The author has recently reported the distribution of the cytoskeleton-associated protein caldesmon in spleen and lymph nodes detected with different antibodies against caldesmon (J Histochem Cytochem 58:183–193, 2010). Here the author reports the distribution of caldesmon in the CNS and ganglia of the mouse using the same antibodies. Western blot analysis of mouse brain and spinal cord showed the preponderance of l-caldesmon and suggested at least two l-caldesmon isoforms in the brain. Immunostaining revealed the predominant reactivity of smooth muscle cells and cells resembling pericytes of many large and small blood vessels, ependymocytes, and secretory cells of the pineal gland and pituitary gland. Neuronal perikarya and neuropil in general displayed no or weak immunoreactivity, but there was stronger labeling of neuronal perikarya in dorsal root and trigeminal ganglia. In the brain, staining of the neuropil was stronger in the molecular layers of the dentate gyrus and cerebellum. Results show that caldesmon is expressed in many different cell types in the CNS and ganglia, consistent with the notion that l-caldesmon is ubiquitously expressed, but it appears most concentrated in smooth muscle cells, pericytes, epithelial cells, secretory cells, and neuronal perikarya in dorsal root and trigeminal ganglia.