Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Simulations in Entrepreneurship Education: Serious Games and Learning Through Play

Entrepreneurship education continues to grow and develop worldwide. This article seeks to expand knowledge and understanding of educational practice in entrepreneurship by focusing on serious games, specifically computer simulations which model entrepreneurship. This paper begins by reviewing the entrepreneurship education literature to consider the role of simulations, explores the nature of serious games, and assesses the role of such games in simulating entrepreneurial learning. This research uses systematic literature review techniques to collect data on serious games, analyzes these games and provides five detailed case studies on the games. The paper concludes with a discussion of what serious games currently simulate in entrepreneurial learning, and directions for future research.
Sleep Loss Promotes Astrocytic Phagocytosis and Microglial Activation in Mouse Cerebral Cortex

We previously found that Mertk and its ligand Gas6, astrocytic genes involved in phagocytosis, are upregulated after acute sleep deprivation. These results suggested that astrocytes may engage in phagocytic activity during extended wake, but direct evidence was lacking. Studies in humans and rodents also found that sleep loss increases peripheral markers of inflammation, but whether these changes are associated with neuroinflammation and/or activation of microglia, the brain's resident innate immune cells, was unknown. Here we used serial block-face scanning electron microscopy to obtain 3D volume measurements of synapses and surrounding astrocytic processes in mouse frontal cortex after 6–8 h of sleep, spontaneous wake, or sleep deprivation (SD) and after chronic (∼5 d) sleep restriction (CSR). Astrocytic phagocytosis, mainly of presynaptic components of large synapses, increased after both acute and chronic sleep loss relative to sleep and wake. MERTK expression and lipid peroxidation in synaptoneurosomes also increased to a similar extent after short and long sleep loss, suggesting that astrocytic phagocytosis may represent the brain's response to the increase in synaptic activity associated with prolonged wake, clearing worn components of heavily used synapses. Using confocal microscopy, we then found that CSR but not SD mice show morphological signs of microglial activation and enhanced microglial phagocytosis of synaptic elements, without obvious signs of neuroinflammation in the CSF. Because low-level sustained microglia activation can lead to abnormal responses to a secondary insult, these results suggest that chronic sleep loss, through microglia priming, may predispose the brain to further damage. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We find that astrocytic phagocytosis of synaptic elements, mostly of presynaptic origin and in large synapses, is upregulated already after a few hours of sleep deprivation and shows a further significant increase after prolonged and severe sleep loss, suggesting that it may promote the housekeeping of heavily used and strong synapses in response to the increased neuronal activity of extended wake. By contrast, chronic sleep restriction but not acute sleep loss activates microglia, promotes their phagocytic activity, and does so in the absence of overt signs of neuroinflammation, suggesting that like many other stressors, extended sleep disruption may lead to a state of sustained microglia activation, perhaps increasing the brain's susceptibility to other forms of damage.
The Yeast Iron Regulon Is Induced upon Cobalt Stress and Crucial for Cobalt Tolerance*

To identify yeast genes involved in cobalt detoxification, we performed RNA expression profiling experiments and followed changes in gene activity upon cobalt stress on a genome-wide scale. We found that cobalt stress specifically results in an immediate and dramatic induction of genes involved in iron uptake. This response is dependent on the Aft1 protein, a transcriptional factor known to regulate a set of genes involved in iron uptake and homeostasis (iron regulon). Like iron starvation, cobalt stress induces accumulation of the Aft1 protein in the nucleus to activate transcription of its target genes. Cells lacking the AFT1 gene (aft1) are hypersensitive to cobalt as well as to other transition metals, whereas expression of the dominant AFT1–1 up allele, which results in up-regulation of AFT1-controlled genes, confers resistance. Cobalt resistance correlates with an increase in intracellular iron in AFT1–1 up cells, and sensitivity of aft1 cells is associated with a lack of iron accumulation. Furthermore, elevated iron levels in the growth medium suppress the cobalt sensitivity of the aft1 mutant cells, even though they increase cellular cobalt. Results presented indicate that yeast cells acquire cobalt tolerance by activating the Aft1p-dependent iron regulon and thereby increasing intracellular iron levels.
The Interaction of Monetary and Macroprudential Policies

I analyze a New Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model where the financing of productive investment is affected by a moral hazard problem. I solve for jointly Ramsey‐optimal monetary and macroprudential policies. I find that when a financial friction is present in addition to the standard nominal friction, the optimal policy can replicate the first‐best allocation if the social planner can conduct both monetary and macroprudential policy. Using monetary policy alone is not enough: a policy trade‐off between stabilizing inflation and output gap emerges. When policy follows simple rules, the source of fluctuations is relevant for the choice of the appropriate policy mix.
Ageing Well in Bournville: A Participative Action Research Project

ABSTRACT A Church of England parish church explored ways to develop its work with older people within the church and wider community through a participative action research project. As the key action the research group developed a short course for people over 55 through which they could share their practical wisdom about how to age well. The findings suggest some ordinary ways in which older people can be enabled to adopt a positive attitude, overcome obstacles and challenge a deficit model of ageing. Theological reflection suggests the value of normalising ageing.
Identification of novel serum autoantibodies against EID3 in non-functional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) are relatively rare heterogenous tumors, comprising only 1–2% of all pancreatic neoplasms. The majority of pNETs are non-functional tumors (NF-pNETs) that do not produce hormones, and as such, do not cause any hormone-related symptoms. As a result, these tumors are often diagnosed at an advanced stage because patients do not present with specific symptoms. Although tumor markers are used to help diagnosis and predict some types of cancers, chromogranin A, a widely used tumor marker of pNETs, has significant limitations. To identify novel NF-pNET-associated antigens, we performed serological identification of antigens by recombinant cDNA expression cloning (SEREX) and identified five tumor antigens (phosphatase and tensin homolog, EP300-interacting inhibitor of differentiation 3 [EID3], EH domain-containing protein 1, galactoside-binding soluble 9, and BRCA1-associated protein). Further analysis using the AlphaLISA® immunoassay to compare serum antibody levels revealed that antibody levels against the EID3 antigen was significantly higher in the patient group than in the healthy donor group (n = 25, both groups). In addition, higher serum anti-EID3 antibody levels in NF-pNET patients correlated with shorter disease-free survival. The AUC calculated by ROC analysis was 0.784 with moderate diagnostic accuracy. In conclusion, serum anti-EID3 antibody levels may be useful as a tumor marker for prediction of tumor recurrence in NF-pNETs.
Dental Caries and Their Treatment Needs in 3-5 Year Old Preschool Children in a Rural District of India

Background: Dental problems in the preschool children are neglected by their parents as the deciduous teeth are going to shed off, and hence considered to be of no importance and more of economic burden if attended to them. Aims: This study was to determine the caries prevalence in preschool children (3-5-year-old) of rural Moradabad district, to analyze the specific pattern of dental caries experience in this population and to assess the treatment needs among them. Material and Methods: Children within the age group of 3-5 years attending Anganwadi centers of rural Moradabad district were included in the study. Caries diagnosis was based on decayed, extracted, filled surface (defs) and the treatment needs were recorded using World Health Organization (WHO) oral health assessment form 1997. Results: Out of 1,500 children examined, 48.7% males and 52.6% females did not require any treatment. The mean decayed, extracted, filled teeth (deft) value was found to be significantly high in 5-year-old participants when compared to 3-year-old participants (P < 0.01). Majority of the children required one surface filling followed by two surface fillings, caries arresting sealant care, extraction, crown bridge element, pulp care, and space maintainer. Conclusion: The most common pattern was pit and fissure, then maxillary anterior pattern, posterior proximal pattern, and posterior buccal lingual smooth surface pattern. The mean deft value was higher in males as compared to females. There is a greater need for oral health education among parents and teachers.
Effect of dopaminergic substances on sleep/wakefulness in saline‐ and MPTP‐treated mice

Sleep/wakefulness (S/W) disorders are frequent in Parkinson’s disease (PD). The underlying causes have yet to be elucidated but dopaminergic neurodegenerative lesions seem to contribute to appearance of the disorders and anti‐Parkinsonian medication is known to accentuate S/W problems. Hence, we reasoned that studying the acute effect of dopaminergic compounds on S/W in an animal model of PD might improve our knowledge of S/W regulation in the context of partial dopaminergic depletion. To this end, we tested the effect of levodopa (l‐dopa), pergolide (a mixed D2/D1 agonist) and lisuride (a D2 agonist) on S/W recordings in MPTP‐treated mice, in comparison with controls. Our results showed that dopaminergic compounds modify S/W amounts in both control and MPTP mice. Wakefulness amounts are greater in MPTP mice after l‐dopa (50 mg kg−1) and lisuride (1 mg kg−1) injections compared with control mice. Moreover, the paradoxical sleep latency was significantly longer in MPTP mice after high‐dose l‐dopa administration. Our observations suggest that the actions of both l‐dopa and lisuride on S/W differ slightly in MPTP mice relative to controls. Hence, MPTP‐induced partial DA depletion may modulate the effect of dopaminergic compounds on S/W regulation.
Left ventricular atrioventricular plane displacement is preserved with lifelong endurance training and is the main determinant of maximal cardiac output

Ageing has negative effects on cardiac function. Endurance training in young subjects is known to improve cardiac function and the ability to deliver blood to exercising tissue. This study shows that lifelong endurance training maintains cardiac pumping function at a level similar to sedentary young subjects and by the same mechanisms. Healthy untrained elderly subjects have maintained cardiac pumping function but use compensatory mechanisms similar to what is seen in patients with heart failure. Healthy ageing should include regular physical activity to maintain cardiac function.
Preventable but neglected: rickets in an informal settlement, Nairobi, Kenya.

SETTING The primary care clinics of Médecins Sans Frontières within the informal settlement of Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya. OBJECTIVE To describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of children clinically diagnosed with rickets from September 2012 to October 2013. DESIGN Descriptive retrospective case review of diagnosis and treatment course with vitamin D and calcium using routine programme data. RESULTS Of the 82 children who met the clinical diagnosis of rickets, 57% were male, with a median age of 12 months and 14 months for females. Children with rickets were found to have ⩽3 hours/week sunlight exposure for 71% of the children and malnutrition in 39%. Clinical findings on presentation revealed gross motor developmental delays in 44%. The loss to follow-up rate during treatment was 40%. CONCLUSIONS This study found that rickets is a common clinical presentation among children living in the informal settlement of Kibera and that there are likely multiple factors within that environment contributing to this condition. As rickets is a simply and inexpensively preventable non-communicable disease, we suggest that routine vitamin D supplementation be formally recommended by the World Health Organization for well-child care in Africa, especially in the contexts of informal settlements.
Macroeconomic, Macro policy and Cost stickiness-- Based on the Empirical Evidence of China’s Listed Real Estate Companies

The real estate industry is an important part of the national economy, which is restricted by the development level of the whole national economy and plays a role of promoting the new economic growth point of the national economy. Cost management plays an important role in the business activities of enterprises. It has an important impact on enterprises to achieve the goal of open source, economize on the flow, and refine the cost control. Based on this, the article listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen A shares in 2007, before 104 real estate companies as the research object, the selection of 2007-2017 financial index, combining with the macro economy and macro policy for empirical research cost stickiness. Research findings :(1) there is fee stickiness in real estate listed companies;(2) the upward trend of macro-economy will inhibit the stickiness of costs; Inflation promotes stickiness;(3) tight control policies and prudent monetary policies will inhibit the stickiness of expenses.
Health Literacy Predicts the Discrepancy Between Patient and Provider Global Assessments of Rheumatoid Arthritis Activity at a Public Urban Rheumatology Clinic

Objective. Numerous studies report that significant discordance exists between patient and provider [physician] measures of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We examined whether health literacy explains this discordance. Methods. We recruited English-speaking adult patients with RA for this cross-sectional study. Subjects completed 2 versions of patient global assessments of disease activity (PTGA), using standard terminology from the Multi-Dimensional Health Assessment Questionnaire (MDHAQ) and the 28-joint count Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28). The provider global assessment (MDGA) was also obtained. The discrepancy between PTGA and MDGA was calculated as the absolute difference between these assessments. We used validated instruments [Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA) and Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM)] and linear regression to determine whether health literacy predicts disease measure discrepancy. Results. The study included 110 subjects. Limited health literacy was a common finding by both the REALM and S-TOFHLA. PTGA and MDGA showed fair to good correlation (r = 0.66–0.68), although both versions of the PTGA were significantly higher than MDGA by the t-test (p < 0.001). The S-TOFHLA and REALM both were associated with the absolute difference between the MDGA and PTGA by linear regression, and results remained statistically significant in multivariate analysis. Conclusion. Health literacy was independently associated with the extent of discrepancy between PTGA and MDGA in English-speaking patients with RA at an urban clinic. This finding should influence our interpretation of disease measures.
Trimmed-Likelihood Estimation for Focal Lesions and Tissue Segmentation in Multisequence MRI for Multiple Sclerosis

We present a new automatic method for segmentation of multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions in magnetic resonance images. The method performs tissue classification using a model of intensities of the normal appearing brain tissues. In order to estimate the model, a trimmed likelihood estimator is initialized with a hierarchical random approach in order to be robust to MS lesions and other outliers present in real images. The algorithm is first evaluated with simulated images to assess the importance of the robust estimator in presence of outliers. The method is then validated using clinical data in which MS lesions were delineated manually by several experts. Our method obtains an average Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of 0.65, which is close to the average DSC obtained by raters (0.66).
Reduced susceptibility to host-defense cationic peptides and daptomycin coemerge in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from daptomycin-naive bacteremic patients.

BACKGROUND We hypothesized that, for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), in vitro daptomycin susceptibility could be influenced by exposures to endogenous host defense peptides (HDPs) prior to clinical exposure to daptomycin. METHODS Two endovascular HDPs were used: thrombin-induced platelet microbicidal protein (tPMP) and human neutrophil defensin-1 (hNP-1) from neutrophils. Forty-seven unique MRSA isolates obtained from bacteremic patients in multicenter prospective clinical trials were studied. Clinical characteristics, microbiologic parameters, prior vancomycin therapy, and susceptibilities to tPMP, hNP-1, and daptomycin were compared using univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS All strains were daptomycin susceptible. Daptomycin minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were inversely related to in vitro tPMP (but not hNP-1) killing. Strains with a daptomycin MIC of 1 mg/L exhibited significantly less killing by tPMP, compared with strains with an MIC of ≤ 0.5 mg/L. Prior vancomycin therapy did not influence this relationship. Regression tree modeling confirmed that reduced tPMP-induced killing in vitro was the strongest predictor of higher daptomycin MICs within the daptomycin-susceptible range. CONCLUSIONS Among daptomycin-susceptible MRSA isolates from patients who had never received daptomycin, higher daptomycin MICs tracked with increased resistance to killing by platelet-derived but not neutrophil-derived HDPs. These findings support the notion that endogenous exposure of MRSA to specific HDPs may play a role in selecting strains with an intrinsically higher daptomycin MIC phenotype.
Rapid accumulation of Akt in mitochondria following phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase activation

We describe here a new component of the phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase/Akt signaling pathway that directly impacts mitochondria. Akt (protein kinase B) was shown for the first time to be localized in mitochondria, where it was found to reside in the matrix and the inner and outer membranes, and the level of mitochondrial Akt was very dynamically regulated. Stimulation of a variety of cell types with insulin‐like growth factor‐1, insulin, or stress (induced by heat shock), induced translocation of Akt to the mitochondria within only several minutes of stimulation, causing increases of nearly eight‐ to 12‐fold, and the mitochondrial Akt was in its phosphorylated, active state. Two mitochondrial proteins were identified to be phosphorylated following stimulation of mitochondrial Akt, the β‐subunit of ATP synthase and glycogen synthase kinase‐3β. The finding that mitochondrial glycogen synthase kinase‐3β was rapidly and substantially modified by Ser9 phosphorylation, which inhibits its activity, following translocation of Akt to the mitochondria is the first evidence for a regulatory mechanism affecting mitochondrial glycogen synthase kinase‐3β. These results demonstrate that signals emanating from plasma membrane receptors or generated by stress rapidly modulate Akt and glycogen synthase kinase‐3β in mitochondria.
Multipotent Progenitor Cells Are Present in Human Peripheral Blood

To determine whether the peripheral blood in humans contains a population of multipotent progenitor cells (MPCs), products of leukapheresis were obtained from healthy donor volunteers following the administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. Small clusters of adherent proliferating cells were collected, and these cells continued to divide up to 40 population doublings without reaching replicative senescence and growth arrest. MPCs were positive for the transcription factors Nanog, Oct3/4, Sox2, c-Myc, and Klf4 and expressed several antigens characteristic of mesenchymal stem cells. However, they were negative for markers of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells and bone marrow cell lineages. MPCs had a cloning efficiency of ≈3%, and following their expansion, retained a highly immature phenotype. Under permissive culture conditions, MPCs differentiated into neurons, glial cells, hepatocytes, cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells, and osteoblasts. Moreover, the gene expression profile of MPCs partially overlapped with that of neural and embryonic stem cells, further demonstrating their primitive, uncommitted phenotype. Following subcutaneous transplantation in nonimmunosuppressed mice, MPCs migrated to distant organs and integrated structurally and functionally within the new tissue, acquiring the identity of resident parenchymal cells. In conclusion, undifferentiated cells with properties of embryonic stem cells can be isolated and expanded from human peripheral blood after granulocyte colony-stimulating factor administration. This cell pool may constitute a unique source of autologous cells with critical clinical import.
A Comparative Analysis of Intelligent Classifiers for Mapping Customer Requirements to Product Configurations

Intelligent classifiers are now widely used to solve engineering problems. This study analyzes the performance of six different classifiers under various sparsity for mapping customer requirements to product configurations for the first time. The mapping procedure can be regarded as the classification task for selecting the product configuration which best satisfy the requirements from every customer. Data from two real word design cases are used to illustrate the comparison, the 10 times 10-fold cross-validation is utilized as evaluation model, the accuracy and macro F-measure are applied as performance metrics. The results of the two cases indicate that the Naïve Bayes Classifier, Support Vector Machine and Relevance Vector Machine perform better than C4.5 Decision Tree, K-Nearest Neighbors and Multilayer Perceptron (a method of Artificial Neural Networks). This study is expected to serve as supportive research on the application of intelligent classifiers in product design issues regarding high dimensional sparse data.