Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Amino Acid Residues That Confer High Selectivity of the α6 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Subunit to α-Conotoxin MII[S4A,E11A,L15A]*

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) containing α3 and β2 subunits are found in autonomic ganglia and mediate ganglionic transmission. The closely related α6 nAChR subtype is found in the central nervous system where changes in its level of expression are observed in Parkinson's disease. To obtain a ligand that discriminates between these two receptors, we designed and synthesized a novel analog ofα-conotoxin MII, MII[S4A,E11A,L15A], and tested it on nAChRs expressed in Xenopus oocytes. The peptide blocked chimeric α6/α3β2β3 nAChRs with an IC50 of 1.2 nm; in contrast, its IC50 on the closely related α3β2 as well as non-α6 nAChRs was three orders of magnitude higher. We identified the residues in the receptors that are responsible for their differential sensitivity to the peptide. We constructed chimeras with increasingly longer fragments of the N-terminal ligand binding domain of the α3 subunit inserted into the homologous positions of the α6 subunit, and these were used to determine that the region downstream of the first 140 amino acids was involved. Further mutagenesis of this region revealed that the α6 subunit residues Glu-152, Asp-184, and Thr-195 were critical, and replacement of these three residues with their homologs from the α3 subunit increased the IC50 of the peptide by >1000-fold. Conversely, when these key residues inα3 were replaced with those fromα6, the IC50 decreased by almost 150-fold. Similar effects were seen with other α6-selective conotoxins, suggesting the general importance of theseα6 residues in conferring selective binding.
Social Insecurity: The Unintended Consequences of Identity Fraud Prevention Policies

Designed as identifiers of accounts tracking US residents' earnings, Social Security numbers (SSNs) have become over time sensitive authenticators for private sector services. Since their abuse is a major vector of identity theft, numerous initiatives have attempted to reduce their public availability. However, recent research has shown that unavailable SSNs may still be accurately predicted from publicly available data. Such predictability may undermine the effectiveness of current strategies aimed at curtailing identity theft. This manuscript examines the policy initiatives that made SSNs predictable, the extent to which their predictability heightens the risks of identity theft for US residents, and the effectiveness of current identity theft prevention strategies in light of said predictability. We find that, surprisingly, a number of past policy initiatives designed to combat identity fraud actually created the conditions for the predictability of SSNs. We also find that current policies aimed at enhancing privacy and security of SSNs, while well-meaning, may too prove countereffective. Our results support alternative identity management solutions, such as banning the usage of SSNs for authentication and replacing them with credential systems based on usable cryptographic protocols.
Image Deblurring with Odd Symmetry Discrete Neumann Boundary Condition

In the work [1], Michael K. NG et al introduced Neumann boundary condition (BC) for blurring models and provided fast algorithms for image deblurring. Whereas only even symmetric discrete Neumann BC was discussed in their paper. We present in this paper odd symmetric discrete Neumann BC for image deblurring and its corresponding diagonalization algorithm as a supplement to their work. Numerical results are given for comparison. Our work could illustrate that discrete approximations of each continuous problem would bring a new level of variety and complexity, often in the boundary conditions.
Symmetry, flexibility and permeability in the structure of yeast retrotransposon virus‐like particles.

The virus‐like particles (VLPs) of the yeast retrotransposon Ty are genetically, structurally and functionally analogous to retroviral nucleocapsids or cores. Like retroviral cores Ty‐VLPs package and possibly promote the enzyme activities for reverse transcription and integration, as well as encapsulating the RNA that is the intermediate in retrotransposition. Here we show that Ty‐VLPs assemble into symmetrical structures across a broad distribution of particle sizes. This spread of sizes violates the principle of quasi‐equivalent packing. In addition, RNase accessibility experiments suggest that these particles form an open structure that does not protect the encapsulated RNA. These features distinguish Ty‐VLPs from typical spherical viral capsids in both structure and function.
A meta‐analysis of effect sizes in international marketing experiments

Purpose – Effect size is an important determinant of statistical power. However, very few experimental studies in international marketing (IM) report effect sizes and no meta‐analysis work in this regard has been done. The main objective of this paper, therefore, is to quantitatively document effect sizes of experiments in IM and to provide directions for further methodological improvement.Design/methodology/approach – All articles published in the top three marketing journals and the top six IM‐related journals during the period 1992‐2005 were screened; this yielded 35 experiment‐based papers within the domain of IM. For each study, ten methodological characteristics relevant to IM experimental designs were coded.Findings – The 35 studies reported 68 experiments, which produced a total of 1, 074 observations. Results reveal that, on average, for experiments in international business marketing, about 2.89 percent of the variance in a dependent variable (DV) is accounted for by experimental treatments, and.
Comparing Competences on Academia and Occupational Contexts based on Similarity Measures

This paper is a first contribution of a schema to match professional and work competences through similarity measures. In this contribution we focus on the determination of connections between university profiles based in standards (body of knowledge and thesauri) similarity measures and Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques. Our first experiments proved that this hybrid schema got a promise results in the recognition of competency patterns in order to apply in the laboral context
Robust two degree of freedom vehicle steering control satisfying mixed sensitivity constraint

Robust steering control is used here for improving the yaw dynamics of a passenger car. A specific two degree of freedom control structure is adapted to the vehicle yaw dynamics problem and shown to robustly improve performance. The design study is based on six operating conditions for vehicle speed and the coefficient of friction between the tires and the road representing the operating domain of the vehicle. The relevant design specifications are formulated as attaining Hurwitz stability and a mixed sensitivity frequency domain bound. Simple, and therefore, easily implementable controller transfer functions with two design parameters are chosen for the two steering controller degrees of freedom. Using the parameter space method, the design specifications are mapped into the plane of controller parameters. The effectiveness of the final design is demonstrated using simulations.
A MYB/ZML Complex Regulates Wound-Induced Lignin Genes in Maize

A methyl jasmonate-dependent MYB-ZML regulatory mechanism links wounding stress to the derepression of lignin genes in maize. Lignin is an essential polymer in vascular plants that plays key structural roles in vessels and fibers. Lignification is induced by external inputs such as wounding, but the molecular mechanisms that link this stress to lignification remain largely unknown. In this work, we provide evidence that three maize (Zea mays) lignin repressors, MYB11, MYB31, and MYB42, participate in wound-induced lignification by interacting with ZML2, a protein belonging to the TIFY family. We determined that the three R2R3-MYB factors and ZML2 bind in vivo to AC-rich and GAT(A/C) cis-elements, respectively, present in a set of lignin genes. In particular, we show that MYB11 and ZML2 bind simultaneously to the AC-rich and GAT(A/C) cis-elements present in the promoter of the caffeic acid O-methyl transferase (comt) gene. We show that, like the R2R3-MYB factors, ZML2 also acts as a transcriptional repressor. We found that upon wounding and methyl jasmonate treatments, MYB11 and ZML2 proteins are degraded and comt transcription is induced. Based on these results, we propose a molecular regulatory mechanism involving a MYB/ZML complex in which wound-induced lignification can be achieved by the derepression of a set of lignin genes.
From job loss to reemployment: field experiments in prevention-focused coping

restructuring, and outsourcing, the long-term relationship between employer and employee is disappearing (Reich, 1991). Rapid changes in technology are leading to predictions that careers will last only half as long for the next generation as they do now (Handy, 1989; Price, in press). In this turbulent climate, skill in transporting one's generic talents between employers, jobs, industries, and sectors will become a central component of lifelong career development. Such changes will increase the stakes that job seekers, employers, educators, and government will have in how well people manage what is often a stressful and challenging transition from job loss to reemployment.
Sustainability Reporting In A Global Context: What Are The Characteristics Of Corporations That Provide High Quality Sustainability Reports - An Empirical Analysis

Over the last years, sustainable development has become one of the major issues that all global organizations are facing. The Global Reporting Initiative, located in the Netherlands and considered the leading authority world-wide, has developed what is currently considered the “common framework for sustainability reporting”. The latest version of their reporting guidelines called G3 contains detailed instructions and standards on how to prepare sustainability reports. By using G3 guidelines, corporations show a strong commitment of continuous improvement of their sustainability reporting practices. The G3 guidelines are increasingly adopted by many global corporations and organizations. At present, more than 700 organizations voluntarily publish a sustainability report according to G3 guidelines. For the first time, this empirical study investigates if the better performing and/or governed corporations prepare their sustainability reports according to the G3 guidelines. The goal of this study is to determine if there are significant differences with regard to size, financial performance, capital structure, and corporate governance between firms that publish a G3 sustainability report to those that don’t. Therefore, quantitative and qualitative variables of 124 randomly selected G3 reporting and non-G3 reporting corporations from 25 countries were analyzed. The results of this analysis show that corporations with the characteristics of being located in Europe, and/or being active in the energy or producing sector, and/or with a higher profit margin are more likely to produce high quality sustainability reports. Corporations with a higher long-term growth rate, on the other hand, are less likely to produce sustainability reports. The results of this unique study contribute directly to the knowledge of corporations providing voluntary CSR information in form of quality sustainability reports and the importance of the development of globally accepted sustainability reporting standards.
Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care.

Manuscript Number: MCO180613R1 Full Title: Micronutrient and amino acid losses in acute renal replacement therapy Article Type: Review Article Corresponding Author: Mark A.J. Devonald Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust Nottingham, UNITED KINGDOM Corresponding Author Secondary Information: Corresponding Author's Institution: Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust Corresponding Author's Secondary Institution: First Author: Weng C Oh First Author Secondary Information: Order of Authors: Weng C Oh David S Gardner Mark A.J. Devonald Order of Authors Secondary Information:
Do Factory Managers know what Workers Want? Manager-Worker Information Asymmetries and Pareto Optimal Working Conditions

Analyzing manager and worker survey data from Better Work Vietnam Monitoring and Evaluation collected between January 2010 and August 2012, working conditions are found to have a significant positive impact on global life assessment and measures of depression and traumatic stress. The conjecture that factory managers may not be offering a cost-minimizing configuration of compensation and workplace amenities is then tested. There exists significant deviations of manager perceptions of working conditions from those of workers and these deviations significantly impact a worker’s perceptions of wellbeing and indicators of mental health. Such deviations may lead the factory manager to under-provide certain workplace amenities relative to the cost-minimizing configuration. A common belief among apparel factory managers reported in case study analysis is that workers value money wages above workplace amenities, a finding corroborated by the statistical analysis. However, the analysis also indicates that manager perceptions do not reflect underlying worker values but rather a failure to effectively implement workplace innovations.
Communications strategy? Strategy communication? Integrating different perspectives

Discussion of the role of the communications function in the strategic decisionmaking process has been neglected in the strategy literature, which views communications as a primarily tactical function. This contrasts with the communications literature which posits a more overt role for communication (with particular reference to corporate communications and public relations) in the strategy process. This article reviews these two contrasting perspectives on the issue of the strategic potential of the communications function and introduces a conceptual framework which identifies a typology of communications roles under different strategy making process modes is advanced.
A 28-Gb/s transmitter with 3-tap FFE and T-coil enhanced terminal in 65-nm CMOS technology

This paper introduces a fully-integrated wireline transmitter operating at 28Gb/s. The transmitter incorporates a 3-tap Feed-Forward-Equalizer (FFE) with Flipflop-based delay to equalize the channel. T-coil networks are used with ESD protection circuits at transmitter's output to realize impedance matching and bandwidth enhancement. The transmitter is fabricated in 65nm CMOS technology. The measurement results show that, when the chip delivers 28Gb/s PRBS7 data over a 5cm PCB trace with a 14dB channel loss at 14GHz, the output peak-to-peak jitter is 19.34ps. The power consumption is 124 mW under 1.0V supply, and the core area is 0.18 mm2.
Who Will File for Corporate Failure in Stock Market

Can we distinguish firms that will eventually file for corporate death and exit from stock market from the firms that will be well off? In other words, who should be allowed to issue Initial Public Offerings (IPO)? To address this question, making use of the special feature of Korean stock market, we identified corporate failure as an event of a firm’s delisting outcome. Employing the hazard model, we find that some firmlevel financial characteristics at the time of IPO do possess significant predictive power in predicting future delisting hazard. The key findings are two-fold. First, we find that the quality of investment decision is the fundamental predictor for forecasting a firm’s future performance in the stock market. Secondly, there are qualitative differences in the factors predicting a firm’s delisting hazard across the two Korean stock markets. Since the listing rules for the KOSDAQ market are more lenient than the KOSPI, signaling incentive seems to be larger among firms, and uncertainty becomes more important in the KOSDAQ market.
Small- to medium-size biotech firms’ marketing efforts during the fuzzy front end of innovation

The purpose of this study is to understand the nature of and the extent to which the type and level of marketing efforts help with the continuation of early-stage innovations. The locus between the phases of Research and Development and New Product Development is defined as the fuzzy front end of innovation, frequently called the ‘‘Valley of Death. ’’ This early stage of innovation is typified by high risks and scarcity of project resources. The challenge for a firm as it develops an early-stage innovation is securing adequate financial, human, and physical project resources. For this study, early-stage innovations are represented by the US National Institutes of Health licenses accorded to small- to medium-size firms. The study develops firm profiles that describe combinations of marketing efforts that enable innovation continuation during the fuzzy front end of innovation. Profiles are evident in terms of marketing variables, firm attributes, and project resources. These profiles vary for type of firm and also by the stage in the firm’s life cycle. The contributions of this study are to (a) develop combinations of variables and profiles for describing and predicting early-stage innovation continuation, (b) provide pragmatic information to potential stakeholders about how to identify and foster early-stage innovations, and (c) help small- to medium-size firms understand how to position and promote themselves in order to obtain resources and advance early-stage innovations.
Does the market value corporate environmental responsibility? An empirical examination

Although researchers have applied different theoretical perspectives to illustrate the relationship between corporate environmental responsibility and profitability, to date theories are contested and empirical findings are inconclusive. Therefore, the aim of this research was to present empirical evidence regarding the influence of engaging in environmental responsibility on corporate market value, as the first study to be applied in the Egyptian context. The findings demonstrate that the market compensates those firms that care for their environment, as environmental responsibility exerted a positive and significant coefficient on the firm market value measured by Tobin's q ratio. This aligns stakeholder theory as well as resource-based theory arguments, and provides supporting evidence for those studies that have concluded that it pays to be environmentally responsive. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Triangle detection based on windowed Hough Transform

A new algorithm based on windowed Hough Transform is proposed for triangle detection. A sliding window scans the image pixel by pixel and the Hough Transform is computed in the small region. Peaks of the Hough image which correspond to the line segments are then extracted. A triangle is detected when the three lines satisfy the certain conditions. Experimental results show that the arbitrary triangle can be detected and retrieved efficiently.
Marshall Field's becomes Macy's: understanding retail brand

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the controversy surrounding the 2006 extension of the Macy brand to the Marshall Field's stores. Initial reactions, as well as on‐going resistance, to the re‐branding provide a means of understanding of the strength of retail brand, how it is established and whether “symbols and traditions” may be separated from retail brand per se.Design/methodology/approach – The effort of Federated Department Stores (later Macy's Inc.) to rebrand Marshall Field as Macy's offers a unique opportunity to understand retail brand. This paper relies on news accounts for a chronology of events leading up to and following the Marshall Field's re‐branding as Macy's. In addition, analysis of postings to the customer‐originated fieldsfanschicago blog is used to understand, from the consumer's viewpoint, how retail brand is formed and to consider the strength of retail brand.Findings – The paper concludes that retail brand may be as strong as product brand, that personal experience.
Market microstructure in a global B2B network

On‐line marketplaces raise several interesting issues, among them the relevance of location when content is digitized, and the assessment of a supplier's capabilities when buyers worldwide only have electronic contact with sellers. In global B2B on‐line marketplaces, market microstructures, i.e. which firms compete for the same customers, are thus likely to be influenced by how customers value location and firm capabilities in their decisions to do business with different suppliers on‐line. We suggest that both these sets of attributes will continue to matter on‐line—firms possessing similar capabilities, as well as firms that are similar in location by country, time zones or clusters, will compete for business from the same customers. We model the similarity in competitive positions between pairs of firms based on the overlap in their customer networks, using data on actual interactions between supplier and customer banks on an electronic trading system. Using QAP network regression techniques on the 100 largest banks in this industry, we find that similarity in capabilities influences who competes with whom, and that location still matters in a global B2B exchange. Interestingly, location influences who a firm's competitors are, but not where its customers are from. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An overview and evaluation on demand response program in Singapore electricity market

In this paper, we present an overview on the policy on demand response (DR) implementation in the wholesale energy market of Singapore, and carry out a study on the cost and benefits for market participants from a retailer's perspective. To assist the retailers in demand-side bidding, we propose to classify the load resources into critical load, prior sheddable load and optional sheddable load. In addition, we present a simulation platform that has been built using multi-agent technologies by incorporating relevant details of Singapore energy market structure and real electricity price data. Our considerations on incentive payment, penalty, and load shedding in the simulation model of the DR program conform to the recent policy released by energy authority in Singapore. We present simulation results to demonstrate the cost and benefits from the load aggregator's or retailer's perspective through participating in DR program in the context of Singapore energy market. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first work that presents such an overview and analysis on the demand response program in the Singapore context.