Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Challenge of International Market Segmentation in Emerging Markets

Increasing paradoxical effects of globalization resulted in the increased homogenization and heterogenization of international markets. Globalization with its varying effects also increased the significance of international market segmentation over the last few decades. Despite the increased presence and usage of international market segmentation, in recent times, the rise of emerging markets have challenged the concepts and methods of international market segmentation. In order to address key issues of international market segmentation in emerging markets, this study briefly examined and assessed foremost conceptual and methodological issues of international market segmentation in emerging markets. Suggestions and future research directions are also provided.
The Transcription Factor CREB Enhances Interleukin-17A Production and Inflammation in a Mouse Model of Atherosclerosis

A lipoxygenase exacerbates atherosclerosis in mice by stimulating macrophages to produce a proinflammatory cytokine. Lipoxygenase, CREB, and Atherosclerosis The chronic inflammatory disease atherosclerosis is characterized by thickening of the arterial wall through the accumulation of lipid-laden foam cells derived from macrophages and smooth muscle cells. It is thought that lipoxygenases (LOs), which metabolize polyunsaturated fatty acids, play key roles in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis by oxidizing low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Kotla et al. found that the major 12/15-LO product in mice, 15(S)-HETE, stimulated the production of reactive oxygen species in monocytes and macrophages, which culminated in production of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-17A (IL-17A) in a manner dependent on the transcription factor CREB. Loss of the gene encoding 12/15-LO in a mouse model of atherosclerosis resulted in decreased accumulation of macrophages at atherosclerotic lesions, decreased fat deposits, and reduced abundance of IL-17A. Together, these data suggest that 12/15-LO exacerbates atherosclerosis in vivo by stimulating the CREB-dependent production of IL-17A and enhancing inflammation. The enzyme 15-lipoxygenase (15-LO) plays a role in atherogenesis (also known as atherosclerosis), but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. We found that 15(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid [15(S)-HETE], the major 15-LO–dependent metabolite of arachidonic acid, stimulated the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by monocytes through the xanthine oxidase–mediated activation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase. ROS production led to the Syk-, Pyk2-, and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)–dependent production of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-17A (IL-17A) in a manner that required the transcription factor CREB (cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element–binding protein). In addition, this pathway was required for the 15(S)-HETE–dependent migration and adhesion of monocytes to endothelial cells. Consistent with these observations, we found that peritoneal macrophages from apolipoprotein E–deficient (ApoE−/−) mice fed a high-fat diet (a mouse model of atherosclerosis) exhibited increased xanthine oxidase and NADPH oxidase activities; ROS production; phosphorylation of Syk, Pyk2, MAPK, and CREB; and IL-17A production compared to those from similarly fed ApoE−/−:12/15-LO−/− mice. These events correlated with increased lipid deposits and numbers of monocytes and macrophages in the aortic arches of ApoE−/− mice, which resulted in atherosclerotic plaque formation. Together, these observations suggest that 15(S)-HETE exacerbates atherogenesis by enhancing CREB-dependent IL-17A production and inflammation.
Reconstruction of the natal cleft with a perforator-based flap.

Recurrent chronic conditions of the natal cleft, such as pilonidal sinuses, are difficult problems to treat. The deep natal cleft and the rolling effect of one buttock surface over the other contribute to the high recurrence rate. Wide excision of the affected area is the treatment of choice; to cover the defect many techniques have been described that flatten the natal cleft and shift the suture line away from the midline to try to reduce recurrence. These techniques include Z-plasties, rhomboid flaps, V-Y flaps, gluteus maximus myocutaneous flaps and others. Five patients with recurrent natal-cleft problems were operated on over a 1 year period. After wide excision of the natal cleft, the defect was reconstructed with a parasacral perforator-based flap. Preoperatively, a perforator situated superolaterally to the defect is identified with a Doppler probe; the flap is then designed horizontally around the perforator and, after elevation, is rotated 908 over the defect. The mean hospital stay was 5 days. Follow-up ranged from 3 months to 15 months, with no signs of recurrence. We believe this to be a simple and reliable technique, with the advantages of placing the scars away from the midline and flattening the natal cleft - factors that help to prevent recurrence.
Actin Cytoskeletal Reorganizations and Coreceptor-Mediated Activation of Rac during Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Induced Cell Fusion

ABSTRACT The membrane fusion events which initiate human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection and promote cytopathic syncytium formation in infected cells commence with the binding of the HIV envelope glycoprotein (Env) to CD4 and an appropriate coreceptor. Here, we show that HIV Env-coreceptor interactions activate Rac-1 GTPase and stimulate the actin filament network reorganizations that are requisite components of the cell fusion process. Disrupting actin filament dynamics with jasplakinolide or latrunculin A arrested fusion at a late step in the formation of Env-CD4-coreceptor complexes. Time-lapse confocal microscopy of living cells revealed vigorous activity of actin-based, target cell membrane extensions at the target cell-Env-expressing cell interface. The expression of dominant-negative forms of actin-regulating Rho-family GTPases established that HIV Env-mediated syncytium formation relies on Rac-1 but not on Cdc42 or Rho activation in target cells. Similar dependencies were found when cell fusion was induced by Env expressed on viral or cellular membranes. Additionally, Rac activity was specifically upregulated in a coreceptor-dependent manner in fusion reaction cell lysates. These results define a role for HIV Env-coreceptor interactions in activating the cellular factors essential for virus-cell and cell-cell fusion and provide evidence for the participation of pertussis toxin-insensitive signaling pathways in HIV-induced membrane fusion.
Online Tracking of Changing Harmonics in Stressed Power Systems: Application to Hydro-Quebec Network

This paper applies, to a practical test case, two schemes for determining harmonics in power systems that are not limited to stationary waveforms, but can equally estimate harmonic phasors in waveforms with time-varying amplitudes and changing fundamental frequency. The first scheme relies on the short-time Fourier analysis performed using the fast Fourier transform (FFT) with time-domain windowing and frequency-domain interpolation. Another scheme combines fundamental-frequency tracking with a Kalman filter-based harmonic analyzer, yielding a uniformly sampled, self-synchronizing harmonics tracker. The performance of these advanced measurement schemes for changing harmonics is illustrated convincingly on nonstationary waveforms generated in the EMTP using a realistic series-compensated transmission network.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: THE CONTEXT OF STAKEHOLDERS PRESSURE IN LITHUANIA

The article presents the results of empirical research on stakeholders‘ impact to Lithuanian business organizations to perform corporate social responsibility. Theoretical research framework is based on International Business Environmental Barometer (IBEB) research tool and covers strength and types of different stakeholders, organizational strategies of relations with them, and consequences of stakeholders’ impact. The results revealed quite low stakeholders pressure on business organizations’ to perform CSR
Multimode bandpass SAW filter using reconfigurable resonance technology

The trend to include more frequency bands in mobile phones has so far been addressed by adding more fixed frequency Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) filters and switching the RF path to accommodate each band. As more bands are needed, a reconfigurable SAW filter is of great interest if performance is not compromised. Here we present the results of a new approach to designing multiband filters. The SAW resonators remain common to all the modes of the device, and non-resonant elements, (inductors and capacitors) are adjusted to reconfigure the passbands. A two-mode proof of concept is presented that uses the same fixed SAW resonators and demonstrates a six percent (6%) change in passband frequencies.
Morphometry of human superficial dorsal and dorsolateral column fibres: significance to spinal cord stimulation.

In spinal cord stimulation (SCS) large diameter cutaneous (Abeta) fibres in the dorsal columns (DCs) are activated and have an inhibiting effect on the transmission of pain signals by Adelta and C fibres from the corresponding dermatome(s). The largest Abeta fibres can be activated up to a maximum depth of about 0.25 mm in the DCs. No data are available on the distribution of the large fibres in this superficial human DC layer at the common SCS levels Th(10-11). Such data are indispensable to improve the predictive capability of a computer model of SCS. The whole myelinated fibre population in the superficial 300 microm of the dorsal column (DC(0-300)) at Th(10-11 )of two human subjects was morphometrically analysed. Some data was obtained from a third subject. The superficial dorsolateral column (DLC(0-300)) was included in this analysis because it was hypothesized that large dorsal spinocerebellar tract fibres could also be activated by SCS. Only very few fibres larger than 10.7 microm were found: a mean of 68 (0.5%) in DC(0-300) and 114 (2%) in DLC(0-300). Considering that the effect of SCS is primarily attributed to activation of these largest fibres, it is concluded that a surprisingly small average amount of 2.4 fibres per running 0.1 mm width and 6 fibres per segmental division of the DC is involved. Distinct mediolateral heterogeneity in fibre composition was found in both DC(0-300) and DLC(0-300). In the DC(0-300), the mean diameter of fibres > or =7.1 microm increases significantly by 5% from medial to lateral. Density (i.e. number of fibres per 1000 microm(2)) and frequency (i.e. percentage of a fibre size group compared to its parent population) of the large fibres increase significantly from medial to lateral in the DC(0-300). For fibres > or =10.7 microm, these parameters increase by 200 and 269%, respectively. It is concluded that the difference in stimulation threshold of large Abeta fibres in the median and lateral DC can be mainly attributed to the absence and presence, respectively, of collaterals at the stimulation site. Marked differences were found between DC(0-300) and DLC(0-300). The largest DLC(0-300) fibres (> or =10.7 microm) have a 320% higher frequency and a 473% higher density. Their mean diameter is, however, only 2% larger. The largest DLC(0-300) fibres are not likely to be recruited by SCS, since they are not larger than their DC(0-300) counterparts, they lack collaterals (which would reduce the threshold stimulus substantially) and they are more remote from the stimulation electrode.
File System Design for an NFS File Server Appliance

Network Appliance Corporation recently began shipping a new kind of network server called an NFS file server appliance, which is a dedicated server whose sole function is to provide NFS file service. The file system requirements for an NFS appliance are different from those for a general-purpose UNIX system, both because an NFS appliance must be optimized for network file access and because an appliance must be easy to use. This paper describes WAFL (Write Anywhere File Layout), which is a file system designed specifically to work in an NFS appliance. The primary focus is on the algorithms and data structures that WAFL uses to implement Snapshotst, which are read-only clones of the active file system. WAFL uses a copy-on-write technique to minimize the disk space that Snapshots consume. This paper also describes how WAFL uses Snapshots to eliminate the need for file system consistency checking after an unclean shutdown.
A New 5–13 GHz Slow-Wave SPDT Switch With Reverse-Saturated SiGe HBTs

This letter describes the analysis, design, and measured results of a fully integrated single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switch developed in 0.25-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> silicon– germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS process technology, which features SiGe HBTs with peak <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$f_{T}/f_{{{\text {max}}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of 110/180 GHz. The switch is designed based on a shunt–shunt topology with a combination of various design and layout optimization approaches to improve the insertion loss (IL), isolation, and power handling capability. The designed switch including the applied techniques results in a measured IL of 2.3 dB and isolation of 32 dB at 8 GHz. The switch is able to attain a state-of-the-art input referred 1-dB compression point (IP<sub>1 dB</sub>) up to 30 dBm while drawing a current of 3 mA from a 6 V supply. The die has an area of only <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$775\,\,\mu \text {m}\,\,\times 820\,\,\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. To the author’s knowledge, the presented work is the first SPDT switch ever reported, that incorporates slow-wave transmission lines and reverse-saturated heterojunction bipolar transistors at the specified frequency range.
Research and Realization of Transaction Concurrency Control in Grid Database

The information time brings the need for lots of information, while the grid developments in recent years have provided enhanced support for the exchange and share of information of heterogeneous platforms and databases in large-scale domains, but how to get efficiently the information in databases in grid is still a problem. This paper discusses transaction concurrency control algorithm based on grid databases, and proposes a transaction concurrency control scheme to solve the problem with the algorithm of CAOTSAO (the combination algorithm of the optimized timestamp method and the optimistic method). The test of implement of the scheme proves to be that this scheme is more efficient than 2PL protocol to process volumes of transactions in the transaction concurrency control in grid database system.
Cross-Market Valuation with Full Information on the Company's Capital Structure

Most models for forecasting a company’s value either use only information from single markets or compress information from other markets. We propose a model using a company’s full capital structure including the term structure and type of outstanding debt to assess its future value. We discuss the numerical properties of our model and demonstrate its usefulness when estimating the probability of default as a valuation example.
Model to assess supply chain resilience

The uncertainty in the current business environment is driven by events such as economic crises, climate change, global terrorism, shortage of resources and so on. This causes traditional supply chain operations models to become obsolete and not able to ensure the sustainability and competitiveness of the organizations. In this context, resilience is defined as the ability of a company/ community/ environment/ people to recover after it has been exposed to an important disturbing event, for instance, a natural disaster as a hurricane hitting the main suppliers, thus creating lack of raw materials in production lines. This article tackles how the assessment of the supply chain resilience, considering this capacity, enables one to be better prepared for an unstable risky environment and the post disaster consequences. We propose a model based on three categories of indicators; the first one is related to achieving an organizational resilience (to assess by results of responsiveness, flexibility and effectiveness), the second one is related to attaining business resilience (to assess by cash-to-cash, days of inventory, days of receivables and days of payables), and the third one is related to having a labour resilience (to assess by labour capabilities to overcome vulnerable living conditions). Two Peruvian supply chain companies (which belong to the food and pharmaceutical sectors) have been studied by using the model; the main results allow concluding that they have a low resilience level, because of their current three-category indicator results.
Research on the development of Wine Tourism Product based on the analysis of the wine tourist behavioral intentions-The case of Dynasty Winery

It is a newly-developed tourism form to open up the novel field of development for the wine industry, combine the wine culture and tourism with deep exploration. Wine tourism can not only speed up the structural adjustment for the wine industry and extend the wine industry chain, but also further improve the brand recognition for the whole industry. The Dynasty Winery in Tianjing possesses the good historical conditions and competitive advantages. In this paper, the feasibility of developing wine tourism products for Dynasty Winery is analyzed based on the characteristics of wine tourism and the wine tourists behavioral intentions. Then the approaches to the product design and suggestions on the wine tourism are discussed.
The Blinder–Oaxaca Decomposition for Nonlinear Regression Models

In this article, a general Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition for nonlinear models is derived, which allows the difference in an outcome variable between two groups to be decomposed into several components. We show how, using nldecompose, this general decomposition can be applied to different models with discrete and limited dependent variables. We further demonstrate how the standard errors of the estimated components can be calculated by using Stata's bootstrap command as a prefix.
Physiological, management and environmental triggers of the ascites syndrome: A review

In meat-type chickens, an inadequacy of vascular capacity for blood flow through the lung to provide the tissues with the oxygen needed for rapid growth is the primary cause of pulmonary hypertensioninduced ascites. There are a variety of other factors that can trigger the ascites syndrome. These factors may cause increased blood flow because of a higher metabolic rate (cold, heat, certain nutrients, chemicals, etc.) or they may cause pulmonary hypertension-induced ascites in rapidly growing chickens because of greater resistance to blood flow in the lung by: (i) increased blood viscosity or red blood cell rigidity; or (ii) reduced vascular capacity in the lung. Some secondary factors, such as high sodium from salt in feed or water, may cause both increased flow and increased resistance to flow. Measures to reduce the ascites syndrome must address the primary genetic cause of insufficient vascular flow capacity in the lung and oxygen delivery to tissues, and the secondary factors that increase oxygen requirement, blood flow and the resistance to blood flow in the lung.
GENOME-WIDE IDENTIFICATION , MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION AND EXPRESSION ANALYSIS OF THE ROP GTPase FAMILY IN PEPPER ( CAPSICUM ANNUUM )

ROP/RAC GTPases is a plant-specific subfamily of Rho GTPases that plays a versatile role in the regulation of plant growth, development, in hormone signal transduction and response to the environment. Prior to the present study, only one Rop gene in pepper has been described. However, with the recent release of the draft genome sequence of pepper allowes us to conduct a genome wide search to identify how many Rop family members existed in pepper genome. We carried out bioinformatics analysis to establish the conserved as well as divergent regions on the protein sequences, phylogenetically analysis and the corresponding result shows that, CaROPs could be distributed into four groups as described in the literature for their homologs in Arabidopsis. To understand the function of nine Rop genes in pepper, we accordingly studied the tissue, fruit development and ripening expression patterns of CaRop genes by obtained RNA-seq data from public database. From our analysis, we realized that the expression of CaRop genes shows no total tissue or developmental specific expression. Furthermore, gene expression profiles of CaRop in response to environment stresses and hormone treatment, such as inoculated with Ralstonia solanacearum, by heat stress as well as treated with four phytohormones respectively and evaluated with real time RT-PCR. The potential involvement of specific CaRop genes in growth, fruit development, ripening, environment stresses as well as hormone responses discussed and may lay the foundation for future functional analysis to unravel their biological roles.
Nanostructured platinum as an electrochemically and mechanically stable electrode coating

Nanostructured materials exhibit large electrochemical surface areas and are thus of high interest for neural interfaces where low impedance and high charge transfer characteristics are desired. While progress in nanotechnology successively enabled smaller feature sizes and thus improved electrochemical properties, concerns were raised with respect to the mechanical stability of such nano structures for use in neural applications. In our study we address these concerns by investigating the mechanical and electrochemical stability of nanostructured platinum. Neural probes with nano-Pt were exposed to exaggerated stress tests resembling insertion into neural tissue over 60 mm distance or long-term stimulation over 240 M biphasic current pulses. Thereby only insignificant changes in electrochemical properties and morphological appearance could be observed in response to the test, proving that nanostructured platinum exhibits outstanding stability. With this finding, a major concern in using nanostructured materials for interfacing neural tissue could be eliminated, demonstrating the high potential of nanostructured platinum for neuroprosthetic devices.
Document flow segmentation for business applications

The aim of this paper is to propose a document flow supervised segmentation approach applied to real world heterogeneous documents. Our algorithm treats the flow of documents as couples of consecutive pages and studies the relationship that exists between them. At first, sets of features are extracted from the pages where we propose an approach to model the couple of pages into a single feature vector representation. This representation will be provided to a binary classifier which classifies the relationship as either segmentation or continuity. In case of segmentation, we consider that we have a complete document and the analysis of the flow continues by starting a new document. In case of continuity, the couple of pages are assimilated to the same document and the analysis continues on the flow. If there is an uncertainty on whether the relationship between the couple of pages should be classified as a continuity or segmentation, a rejection is decided and the pages analyzed until this point are considered as a "fragment". The first classification already provides good results approaching 90% on certain documents, which is high at this level of the system.