Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Legitimidade, Governança Corporativa e Desempenho: Análise das Empresas da BM&F Bovespa (Legitimacy, Corporate Governance and Performance in BM&F Bovespa)

The aim of this paper is to evaluate how legitimacy affects the market value of Brazilian stock market companies. Specifically, we analyze how the adherence to the “Novo Mercado” moderates the effect of legitimacy on the market value. From the organizational institutionalism framework, we evaluated by means of panel data, 348 organizations between 2002 and 2007, generating a total of 1357 observations. We found that adherence to the “Novo Mercado”, the prestige of board members and reputation significantly affects the market value. When sectioned organizations according to the level of governance, we see that the cultural-cognitive and normative legitimacy origins significantly affected the market value in groups with lower level of governance, while among the companies in the “Novo Mercado”, the influence was not significant. From these results, we conclude that legitimacy is an important factor explaining the performance variability of publicly traded companies in which the presence in governance premium listing conditioned the influence of other sources of legitimacy in market value.
Compression and Fast Indexing for Multi-Gigabyte Text Databases

In the last two years we have developed improved techniques for indexing and retrieval of text data, including algorithms for inversion, for compression of the data and index, and for economical ranking. These techniques were, however, tested on relatively small databases. In this paper we describe our experiences in scaling these techniques up to a large (2 Gb) heterogeneous text database. Our experiments show that compression performance does not degrade with the increase in size, and that response times remain small, connrming that our techniques are suitable for large volumes of data.
Avian Influenza H5N1 Screening of Intensive Care Unit Patients with Community-acquired Pneumonia

From February 1, 2005, to January 31, 2006, we screened 115 adults for avian influenza (H5N1) and influenza A if admitted to an intensive care unit with pneumonia. Using reverse transcription-PCR, viral culture, and serologic testing for anti-H5 antibody, we identified 8 (7%) patients with influenza A (H3N2); none had H5N1. Estimated costs for H5N1 screening were $7,375.
Expression-Based Functional Investigation of the Organ-Specific MicroRNAs in Arabidopsis

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a pivotal role in plant development. The expression patterns of the miRNA genes significantly influence their regulatory activities. By utilizing small RNA (sRNA) high-throughput sequencing (HTS) data, the miRNA expression patterns were investigated in four organs (flowers, leaves, roots and seedlings) of Arabidopsis. Based on a set of criteria, dozens of organ-specific miRNAs were discovered. A dominant portion of the organ-specific miRNAs identified from the ARGONAUTE 4-enriched sRNA HTS libraries were highly expressed in flowers. Additionally, the expression of the precursors of the organ-specific miRNAs was analyzed. Degradome sequencing data-based approach was employed to identify the targets of the organ-specific miRNAs. The miRNA–target interactions were used for network construction. Subnetwork analysis unraveled some novel regulatory cascades, such as the feedback regulation mediated by miR161, the potential self-regulation of the genes miR172, miR396, miR398 and miR860, and the miR863-guided cleavage of the SERRATE transcript. Our bioinformatics survey expanded the organ-specific miRNA–target list in Arabidopsis, and could deepen the biological view of the miRNA expression and their regulatory roles.
Fully Automated, Internally Controlled Quantification of Hepatitis B Virus DNA by Real-Time PCR by Use of the MagNA Pure LC and LightCycler Instruments

ABSTRACT We report on the development of a fully automated real-time PCR assay for the quantitative detection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in plasma with EDTA (EDTA plasma). The MagNA Pure LC instrument was used for automated DNA purification and automated preparation of PCR mixtures. Real-time PCR was performed on the LightCycler instrument. An internal amplification control was devised as a PCR competitor and was introduced into the assay at the stage of DNA purification to permit monitoring for sample adequacy. The detection limit of the assay was found to be 200 HBV DNA copies/ml, with a linear dynamic range of 8 orders of magnitude. When samples from the European Union Quality Control Concerted Action HBV Proficiency Panel 1999 were examined, the results were found to be in acceptable agreement with the HBV DNA concentrations of the panel members. In a clinical laboratory evaluation of 123 EDTA plasma samples, a significant correlation was found with the results obtained by the Roche HBV Monitor test on the Cobas Amplicor analyzer within the dynamic range of that system. In conclusion, the newly developed assay has a markedly reduced hands-on time, permits monitoring for sample adequacy, and is suitable for the quantitative detection of HBV DNA in plasma in a routine clinical laboratory.
Children’s Geographic Proximity and Older Parents’ Depressive Symptoms in China

Objective: This study examined the association between children’s proximity and older parents’ depressive symptoms, and whether living with grandchildren modified this association. Method: Study sample was from the 2011 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (N = 5,261). Elders’ depressive symptoms were measured using the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Children’s proximity was measured by the geographic distance from an adult child to elders’ residence. Linear and logit regressions were performed. Results: Elders who had their nearest child living 100 km away were 9% more likely to experience severe depressive symptoms (95% CI: [1%, 16%]) than those living together with children. Among those living far away from adult children, living with a grandchild in the same household increased the likelihood of having severe depressive symptoms by 23% (95% CI: [12%, 34%]). Discussion: Relationships between children’s proximity and parents’ health were identified and modified by whether living with grandchildren.
Ischemic Stroke in Takayasu's Arteritis: Lesion Patterns and Possible Mechanisms

Background and Purpose The purpose of the present study was to use brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) to identify the mechanism of stroke in patients with Takayasu's arteritis (TA). Methods Among a retrospective cohort of 190 TA patients, 21 (3 males and 18 females) with a mean age of 39.9 years (range 15-68 years) who had acute cerebral infarctions were included in lesion pattern analyses. The patients' characteristics were reviewed, and infarction patterns and the degree of cerebral artery stenosis were evaluated. Ischemic lesions were categorized into five subgroups: cortical border-zone, internal border-zone, large lobar, large deep, and small subcortical infarctions. Results In total, 21 ischemic stroke events with relevant ischemic lesions on MRI were observed. The frequencies of the lesion types were as follows: large lobar (n=7, 33.3%), cortical border zone (n=6, 28.6%), internal border zone (n=1, 4.8%), small cortical (n=0, 0%), and large deep (n=7, 33.3%). MRA revealed that 11 patients had intracranial artery stenosis. Conclusions Hemodynamic compromise in large-artery stenosis and thromboembolic mechanisms play significant roles in ischemic stroke associated with TA.
FlhF Is Required for Swarming Motility and Full Pathogenicity of Bacillus cereus

Besides sporulation, Bacillus cereus can undergo a differentiation process in which short swimmer cells become elongated and hyperflagellated swarmer cells that favor migration of the bacterial community on a surface. The functionally enigmatic flagellar protein FlhF, which is the third paralog of the signal recognition particle (SRP) GTPases Ffh and FtsY, is required for swarming in many bacteria. Previous data showed that FlhF is involved in the control of the number and positioning of flagella in B. cereus. In this study, in silico analysis of B. cereus FlhF revealed that this protein presents conserved domains that are typical of SRPs in many organisms and a peculiar N-terminal basic domain. By proteomic analysis, a significant effect of FlhF depletion on the amount of secreted proteins was found with some proteins increased (e.g., B component of the non-hemolytic enterotoxin, cereolysin O, enolase) and others reduced (e.g., flagellin, L2 component of hemolysin BL, bacillolysin, sphingomyelinase, PC-PLC, PI-PLC, cytotoxin K) in the extracellular proteome of a ΔflhF mutant. Deprivation of FlhF also resulted in significant attenuation in the pathogenicity of this strain in an experimental model of infection in Galleria mellonella larvae. Our work highlights the multifunctional role of FlhF in B. cereus, being this protein involved in bacterial flagellation, swarming, protein secretion, and pathogenicity.
Strength of Nanotubes, Filaments, and Nanowires From Sonication‐Induced Scission

A model to describe the cavitation-induced breakage of nanofilaments during their sonication in solution is proposed. The model predicts a limiting length below which scission no longer occurs, and accurately describes experimental results for materials ranging from carbon nanotubes to protein fibrils. Sonication-induced breakage can now be used as a probe for the strength of nanostructures. © 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.
Research of Gravity-Based Outliers Detection

A gravity-based outliers detection algorithm GODA is presented. Considering that for a data point, both of the density around it and the distance between it and others can influence the outlier's definition, the algorithm can detect the crytic outliers in the dataset. This paper proposes the definitions and techniques firstly and then introducts the algorithm detailedly. Experiments have been carried out with real data, and the results indicates that not only the new algorithm is of goog extensible ability but also it has higher efficiency of detecting outliers. It points out the outlier's outlying degree in the dataset as well.
The origins of scientific cinematography and early medical applications

Objective: To examine the neurologic cinematographic contributions of Gheorghe Marinescu. Background: Near the end of the 19th century, cinematography developed and was immediately recognized as a new technique applicable to medical documentation. After studying with several prominent European neurologists and deeply influenced by Jean-Martin Charcot, Marinescu returned to Bucharest in 1897 and applied moving picture techniques to the study of neurologic patients. Methods: The Romanian State Archives were researched for original Marinescu films, and related publications were translated from Romanian and French. Results: Between 1899 and 1902, Marinescu perfected the use of cinematography as a research method in neurosciences and published five articles based on cinematographic documents. He focused his studies particularly on organic gait disorders, locomotor ataxia, and hysteria. He adapted Charcot’s method of lining up several patients with the same disorder and showing them together to permit appreciation of archetypes and formes frustes. He decomposed the moving pictures into sequential tracings for publication. He documented treatment results with cases filmed before and after therapy. Processed and digitized excerpts of these films accompany this manuscript. Conclusions: Marinescu’s cinematographic studies led to several original contributions in clinical neurology. Remaining film archives include examples of many neurologic diseases, his examination techniques, and the working medical environment of the young founder of the Romanian school of neurology.
Subjectivity and the Construction of Emotion in the Music of Björk

A commonly held reception theory for popular song is that it constitutes an expression of emotional experience belonging either to the performer(s), to the listener, or to a virtual third person. Drawing on the belief that music is capable of affording subject positions on behalf of its listeners, the present article argues that organised sound is not only capable of representing or embodying a pre-existent affective experience, but that it contributes uniquely to the idea of what emotion is and of how it is perceived. In this respect music can be understood as participating in the cultural construction of feeling that has helped to shape the identity of the modern Western subject. Two tracks by Bjork are presented as case study illustrations of this thesis: ‘Unison’ (Vespertine 2001) and the music video ‘Joga’ (Volumen 1999). Thus Bjork's music, along with the discursive media surrounding it, is shown to rely upon a distinctive expressive vocabulary aimed at communicating a particular kind of embodied subjectivity.
A Theoretical Model for Implementing Quality Management in an Automated Environment

This paper will present the results of a study which included the development of a quality management model, based on an extensive literature survey, and the empirical validation of the model. The study was designed to address two major research questions: 1. What is a plausible model of the quality management process? Specifically, the study aimed to determine which quality management constructs or practices should be included in a model of quality management. Additionally, the study identified or hypothesized a set of relationships among the underlying constructs, and 2. Which of the hypothesized relationships included in the model were supported empirically by real world data? A review of the literature provided the basis for the answers to both parts of question one. A model consisting of eight quality management practices, and five performance measures was developed. The literature review provided support for a proposed set of relationships among the thirteen constructs included in the quality management model. The proposed relationships formed the basis of a set of nine hypotheses tested in the study. A survey instrument was developed, from published indicators, to collect perceptual data about the utilization of quality management practices in companies and the perceived impact of these practices on performance measures. Structural equation modelling was employed to analyze the data collected from two hundred and ninety five respondents at organizations throughout the United States. The resulting model has utility for quality practitioners and researchers since it serves as an organizing framework for understanding the quality management process.
On the Approximation of Correlated Non-Gaussian Noise Pdfs using Gaussian Mixture Models

Gaussian mixture probability density functions (pdfs) have been po pular for modeling nonGaussian noise. The majority of non-Gaussian noise research has been restri cted to independent and identically distributed observation sequences due to the difficulty i n characterizing multidimensional pdf’s. There has been very few studies on the ability of Gaussian m ixture pdfs to model correlated non-Gaussian noise processes. In this paper, we initiate such a tudy and demonstrate that in practical cases, Gaussian mixture pdfs with a small number of mixin g terms can give good approximations to non-Gaussian noise pdfs. Some general models for co rrelated non-Gaussian interference and noise are reviewed. The focus is on three approaches. The first i s the Gaussian mixture model approach. The second is an approach based on spherically invariant random v ect rs. The final approach involves the combination of linear filters and nonlinearities, gen erally in anad-hoc manner. The three approaches are compared and the Gaussian mixture model is shown to approximate models generated from the other approaches.
Domain specific effects of commitment on bridge employment decisions: The moderating role of economic stress

Bridge employment is a labour force participation pattern increasingly observed in older workers. The present study applied the theory of planned behaviour and the principle of compatibility to predict two types of bridge employment decisions: career-based bridge employment and organization-based bridge employment. The study did this by examining the joint effect of work-related commitment variables and retirees' economic stress. Lagged data were collected from 164 Chinese retirees. Results of logistic regression analysis showed that career commitment and organizational commitment (i.e., affective and continuance commitment to the organization) had positive main effects in predicting career-based and organization-based bridge employment decisions respectively, supporting the principle of compatibility. In addition, these predictive effects were moderated by economic stress as a contextual constraint. The findings are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications for the bridge employment decision-making literature.
Studies on the Measurement of Unpleasant Events and Relations with Depression

The goal was to construct a psychometrically sound instrument for the measurement of aversive events. Hypotheses about the occurrence of aversive events and depression were also tested. The Un pleasant Events Schedule (UES) consists of 320 events generated by an extensive search of events experienced as distressing by many people. Each event was rated for frequency of occurrence (3-point scale) during the past month and for subjective aversiveness (3-point scale). The events were cate gorized into seven rational scales (Health and Wel fare, Achievement-Academic-Job, Domestic Incon veniences, Sex-Marital-Friendship, Material- Financial, and Social Exits). The UES was tested on a group (N=202) about equally divided between depressed patients and two non-depressed control groups. The depressed patients were selected using the MMPI and a clinical interview. A normal MMPI control group was selected on the basis of MMPI scores in the normal range and no history of depression. A second control group (High-MMPI Controls) was selected on the basis of elevations on clinical MMPI scales other than depression and no history of depression. The UES was found to have very high internal consistency and adequate test-re- test repeatability. Construct validity was investi gated with comparisons between depressed and non-depressed groups and by the covariation be tween changes in the rate of occurrence of aversive events and changes in depression level. The UES should prove useful in future research on quantita tive relationships between stressful life events and psychopathology.
Evaluation of copper resistant bacteria from vineyard soils and mining waste for copper biosorption

Vineyard soils are frequently polluted with high concentrations of copper due application of copper sulfate in order to control fungal diseases. Bioremediation is an efficient process for the treatment of contaminated sites. Efficient copper sorption bacteria can be used for bioremoval of copper from contaminated sites. In this study, a total of 106 copper resistant bacteria were examined for resistance to copper toxicity and biosorption of copper. Eighty isolates (45 from vineyard Mollisol, 35 from Inceptisol) were obtained from EMBRAPA (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária) experimental station, Bento Gonçalves, RS, Brazil (29°09′53.92″S and 51°31′39.40″W) and 26 were obtained from copper mining waste from Caçapava do Sul, RS, Brazil (30°29′43.48″S and 53′32′37.87W). Based on resistance to copper toxicity and biosorption, 15 isolates were identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Maximal copper resistance and biosorption at high copper concentration were observed with isolate N2 which removed 80 mg L−1 in 24 h. Contrarily isolate N11 (Bacillus pumilus) displayed the highest specific copper biosorption (121.82 mg/L/OD unit in 24 h). GenBank MEGABLAST analysis revealed that isolate N2 is 99% similar to Staphylococcus pasteuri. Results indicate that several of our isolates have potential use for bioremediation treatment of vineyards soils and mining waste contaminated with high copper concentration.
Mild Pd-Catalyzed Aminocarbonylation of (Hetero)Aryl Bromides with a Palladacycle Precatalyst

A palladacyclic precatalyst is employed to cleanly generate a highly active XantPhos-ligated Pd-catalyst. Its use in low temperature aminocarbonylations of (hetero)aryl bromides provides access to a range of challenging products in good to excellent yields with low catalyst loading and only a slight excess of CO. Some products are unattainable by traditional carbonylative coupling.
Privacy Preserving Decision Tree Mining from Perturbed Data

Privacy preserving data mining has been investigated extensively. The previous works mainly fall into two categories, perturbation and randomization based approaches and secure multi-party computation based approaches. The earlier perturbation and randomization approaches have a step to reconstruct the original data distribution. The new research in this area adopts different data distortion methods or modifies the data mining techniques to make it more suitable to the perturbation scenario. Secure multi-party computation approaches which employ cryptographic tools to build data mining models face high communication and computation costs, especially when the number of parties participating in the computation is large. In this paper, we propose a new perturbation based technique. In our solution, we modify the data mining algorithms so that they can be directly used on the perturbed data. In other words, we directly build a classifier for the original data set from the perturbed training data set.
Genome-Wide Association Study of Treatment Refractory Schizophrenia in Han Chinese

We report the first genome-wide association study of a joint analysis using 795 Han Chinese individuals with treatment-refractory schizophrenia (TRS) and 806 controls. Three loci showed suggestive significant association with TRS were identified. These loci include: rs10218843 (P = 3.04×10−7) and rs11265461 (P = 1.94×10−7) are adjacent to signaling lymphocytic activation molecule family member 1 (SLAMF1); rs4699030 (P = 1.94×10−6) and rs230529 (P = 1.74×10−7) are located in the gene nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells 1 (NFKB1); and rs13049286 (P = 3.05×10−5) and rs3827219 (P = 1.66×10−5) fall in receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 4 (RIPK4). One isolated single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs739617 (P = 3.87×10−5) was also identified to be associated with TRS. The -94delATTG allele (rs28362691) located in the promoter region of NFKB1 was identified by resequencing and was found to associate with TRS (P = 4.85×10−6). The promoter assay demonstrated that the -94delATTG allele had a significant lower promoter activity than the -94insATTG allele in the SH-SY5Y cells. This study suggests that rs28362691 in NFKB1 might be involved in the development of TRS.
Recurrence and ergodicity of random walks on linear groups and on homogeneous spaces

Abstract We discuss recurrence and ergodicity properties of random walks and associated skew products for large classes of locally compact groups and homogeneous spaces. In particular, we show that a closed subgroup of a product of finitely many linear groups over local fields supports an adapted recurrent random walk if and only if it has at most quadratic growth. We give also a detailed analysis of ergodicity properties for special classes of random walks on homogeneous spaces and for associated homeomorphisms with infinite invariant measure. The structural properties of closed subgroups of linear groups over local fields and the properties of group actions with respect to certain Radon measures associated with random walks play an important role in the proofs.