Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Preliminary Assessment of Metabolic Costs of the Nematode Myrmeconema neotropicum on its Host, the Tropical Ant Cephalotes atratus

abstract: The parasitic nematode Myrmeconema neotropicum infects workers of the neotropical arboreal ant Cephalotes atratus. Infected ants exhibit altered behavior, e.g., reduced aggression and slower tempo, as well as physical traits, e.g., gaster changes from shiny black to bright red. These changes are thought to induce fruit mimicry and attract frugivorous birds, which are the presumed paratenic hosts for the nematodes. We used respirometry to measure the energetic costs of nematode infection, testing the prediction of higher metabolic rates for infected workers maintaining both ant and nematode biomass. Contrary to this prediction, infected workers had lower mass-specific metabolic rates than uninfected workers. Parasites are limited to the gasters (abdomens) of adult ants, and infected gasters had 57% more mass, but 37% lower metabolic rates, compared to uninfected gasters. These results use a metabolic currency to measure, in vivo, the energetic costs of parasitism, and they shed light on the complex co-evolutionary relationship between host and parasite.
Extracorporeal perfusion for the treatment of acute liver failure.

OBJECTIVE AND SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA Because of the shortage of available donor organs, death rates from liver failure remain high. Therefore, several temporary liver-assisting therapies have been developed. This article reviews various approaches to temporary liver support as well as immunologic and metabolic developments toward a solution for this problem. METHODS A literature review was performed using Medline and additional library searches to obtain further references. Only articles with a well-defined aim of study and methodology and a clear description of the outcome of the experiments were included. CONCLUSIONS Renewed interest has developed in old and new methods for an extracorporeal approach to the treatment of acute liver failure. Although temporary clinical improvement has been established, further research is needed to achieve a successful long-term clinical outcome. New developments in the field of genetic modification and tissue engineering await clinical application in the near future.
Tobacco mosaic virus based thin film sensor for detection of volatile organic compounds

A thin film sensor for the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOC) was fabricated by deposition of oligo-aniline grafted tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) onto a glass substrate. The oligo-aniline motifs were conjugated onto the TMV surface by a traditional diazonium coupling reaction to tyrosine residues followed by Cu(I) catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction. The modified TMV was easily fabricated into a thin film by directly drop coating onto a glass substrate. Upon integration of the glass substrate into a prototypical device, the virus-based thin film exhibited good sensitivity and selectivity toward ethanol and methanol vapour.
Insulin-Induced Hypoglycemia and Its Effect on the Brain

Hypoglycemia, a frequent occurrence during modern intensive insulin therapy, remains the major limiting factor in achieving optimal glucose control in type 1 diabetic patients as well as in patients with long-standing type 2 diabetes. This has been a challenge for clinicians and investigators since several large population-based studies such as the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial and UK Prospective Diabetes Study established the long-term benefits of tight glycemic control many years ago (1,2). More recently, studies of intensive glucose control in patients with diabetes of several years duration have—to the surprise to many—been either terminated because of increased mortality in the intensive control arm or because worse outcomes were revealed in regard to the clinical end points (3,4). In a parallel development, we have gone, over the course of 10 years, from embracing stringent inpatient glucose control via insulin infusion protocols in the intensive care setting (5) to realizing that not everybody may benefit equally from such an intervention, since the increased incidence of profound hypoglycemia is the limiting factor (6). In fact, a recent systematic review of 21 trials of intensive insulin therapy by Kansagara et al. (7) found a sixfold higher risk of severe hypoglycemic events in patients undergoing such therapy. Faced with a clinical dilemma of such proportion, it appears that we may need to readdress our hypotheses, and we need to conduct mechanistic studies that allow us to identify therapies that are effective but minimize the exposure of patients to the heightened risk of hypoglycemia. Understanding …
Determinants of M&A Success in the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnological Industry

The pharma and biotech industry has faced major challenges in the previous years with respect to both the revenues and costs which led to a merger wave in this particular sector. Using standard event study methodology, this paper analyzes the success of the worldwide M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions) transactions in the pharma and biotech industry between 1996 and 2006. Overall, the combined entities show insignificant announcement effects, targets benefit from highly positive abnormal returns, whereas acquirers reduce their shareholder value. With regard to specific success factors, we find a strong evidence that focus on sales synergies is valued by the stock markets as a key success strategy for pharma and biotech M&A. Consequently, traditional pharma companies that still dispose of sufficient cash from their existing sales but face a dried-out product and patent pipeline should acquire innovative, but cash-poor biotech firms. The level of cost efficiency does not have a statistically significant impact on the abnormal returns. We interpret this finding as an indicator that the stock markets do not believe in cost synergies as a motivation for a successful transaction in the pharma and biotech industry.
Transformational Leadership and TQM Implementation

Several studies have identified leadership as a promoter of total quality management (TQM). In addition, empirical studies have shown significant positive relationship between transformational leadership and working efficiency. Researchers also defend that it is top management duty to lead the movement for quality. In this sense, leaders are expected to define organizational strategy and mission, values and principles that will inspire TQM oriented management practices. This conceptual work explores the relationship between transformational leadership and total TQM – defined by the dimensions of innovation, creativity, trust and teamwork – presenting initial propositions that can guide future research in this area of knowledge.
MAC-Layer Support for Real-Time Video over IEEE 802.11 DCF Networks

IEEE 802.11 DCF is a contention-based channel access protocol, and medium access delay greatly increases as the number of contending stations in a service area increases. This severely affects on delay-sensitive video applications. In this paper, we focus on MAC-layer solutions for realizing high quality video transmission in 802.11 DCF networks. A new channel access protocol based on the timestamp (TS) of video packets is proposed for real-time video. The TS information is carried by RTP header from the video application to 802.11 MAC. For video packets with the same RTP TS, they are simultaneously transmitted in a single channel access. Additional contention and back-off processes can be avoided because the whole packets of a video frame are completely delivered. The proposed TS-based access protocol can be easily implemented by the DCF with packet bursting. In addition, it is backward compatible to the legacy DCF. Extensive simulations show that the TS-based channel access achieves lower cumulative distributions of application-level video frame delay when comoared to the DCF orotocol.
Simple signature verification sub-system for identity recognition

The paper proposes a simple, low-cost signature verification approach and software that can be employed as one of the components of a more sophisticated personal identification system. The identification is based on the use of local binary pattern features of a signature image. The Support Vector Machine (SVM) model is chosen to classify the authentic signatures from their imitations.
Split-Path Enhanced Pipeline Scheduling

Software pipelining increases the loop execution throughput by overlapping the execution of successive iterations in a pipelined fashion. For loops with control flows, however, software pipelining is not straightforward because we need to consider the overlap of more than one execution path. Modulo scheduling simply transforms them into straightline loops through if-conversion which, in effect, achieves a fixed, worst-case initiation interval (/spl par/) among all paths. On the other hand, all-path pipelining (APP) and enhanced pipeline scheduling (EPS) can achieve a variable /spl par/ depending on the path that is taken at execution time. Unfortunately, APP concentrates only on the overlap within the same path, entirely losing the overlap between different paths, whereas EPS attempts to overlap all paths together, failing to produce a tight schedule for each individual path, especially when resource constraints are tight. In this paper, we propose a new approach to EPS called split-path EPS (SP-EPS), which first splits each individual path via tail duplication and then performs EPS in a way to guarantee a tight schedule for each path, while producing a competitive cross-path schedule. We also extend SP-EPS to outer loops such that frequent paths that bypass the inner loop are split and then scheduled by SP-EPS. Our experimental results on nontrivial integer benchmarks show that SP-EPS can achieve as much as a geometric mean of 10 percent speedup over EPS when innermost loops are scheduled by SP-EPS, while it can achieve a geometric mean of 11.9 percent speedup when outer loops are also scheduled by SP-EPS.
Enabling Motion Planning and Execution for Tasks Involving Deformation and Uncertainty

A number of outstanding problems in robotic motion and manipulation involve tasks where degrees of freedom (DoF), be they part of the robot, an object being manipulated, or the surrounding environment, cannot be accurately controlled by the actuators of the robot alone. Rather, they are also controlled by physical properties or interactions – contact, robot dynamics, actuator behavior – that are influenced by the actuators of the robot. In particular, we focus on two important areas of poorly controlled robotic manipulation: motion planning for deformable objects and in deformable environments; and manipulation with uncertainty. Many everyday tasks we wish robots to perform, such as cooking and cleaning, require the robot to manipulate deformable objects. The limitations of real robotic actuators and sensors result in uncertainty that we must address to reliably perform fine manipulation. Notably, both areas share a common principle: contact, which is usually prohibited in motion planners, is not only sometimes unavoidable, but often necessary to accurately complete the task at hand. We make four contributions that enable robot manipulation in these poorly controlled tasks: First, an efficient discretized representation of elastic deformable objects and cost function that assess a “cost of deformation” for a specific configuration of a deformable object that enables deformable object manipulation tasks to be performed without physical simulation. Second, a method using active learning and inverse-optimal control to build these discretized representations from expert demonstrations. Third, a motion planner and policy-based execution approach to manipulation with uncertainty which incorporates contact with the environment and compliance of the robot to generate motion policies which are then adapted during execution to reflect actual robot behavior. Fourth, work towards the development of an efficient path quality metric for paths executed with actuation uncertainty that can be used inside a motion planner or trajectory optimizer.
Aldosterone Activates Vascular p38MAP Kinase and NADPH Oxidase Via c-Src

Increasing evidence indicates that aldosterone elicits vascular effects through nongenomic signaling pathways. We tested the hypothesis that aldosterone induces activation of vascular mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases and NADPH oxidase via c-Src–dependent mechanisms in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Aldosterone effects on activation of c-Src, p38MAP kinase, and NADPH oxidase, and incorporation of [3H]proline, an index of collagen synthesis, were assessed in cultured rat VSMCs. Studies were performed in the absence and presence of eplerenone, a selective mineralocorticoid receptor blocker, PP2, a selective Src inhibitor, and SB212190, a selective p38MAPK inhibitor. Phosphorylation of c-Src was dose-dependently increased by aldosterone, with maximal responses obtained at 10−7 mol/L. Aldosterone increased p38MAP kinase phosphorylation, NAD(P)H oxidase activation, and [3H]proline incorporation. These responses were abrogated by eplerenone and almost abolished by PP2. Aldosterone-stimulated incorporation of [3H]proline was significantly reduced by SB212190, indicating that p38MAP kinase plays a role in profibrotic actions of aldosterone. To unambiguously demonstrate the importance of aldosterone in c-Src signaling, VSMCs from c-Src+/+ and c-Src+/− mice were also studied. Aldosterone increased phosphorylation of c-Src, p38MAP kinase, and cortactin, a Src-specific substrate, in c-Src+/+ VSMCs, but not in c-Src-deficient cells. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that nongenomic signaling by aldosterone occurs through c-Src–dependent pathways. These processes may play an important role in profibrotic actions of aldosterone.
Knowing Your Market

Whether students are working or not is one effective basis for segmenting the student market. This investigation suggests that working college students use sophisticated methods for balancing their GPA, course load, and workload. An understanding of how they do this can help colleges and universities better serve this important market segment and reap the benefits of having this market perceive the school more positively because of it being more sensitive toward, and understanding of, the needs of working students.
Pricing of licenses on CERN technology

This Master thesis develops a framework for the pricing of licenses on technology, suitable for a Technology Transfer (TT) context that is characterized by a goal of dissemination, early-stage technologies, limited market information, and great variations between technologies. The chosen context is defined by comparing the policy and the specificity of the initial recipient, CERN, to other public research institutions, thereby aiming at the development of a general framework. A conceptual model of the framework is thereafter developed to accommodate considerations of all the indicated characteristics through three main subparts: 1)~the target price, 2)~the walk-away point, and 3)~the royalty structure. For estimation of a suitable target price, valuation methodologies from academic and business literature are reviewed and discussed with regard to their suitability for the chosen TT context, thus selecting six methods of different approaches and varying information dependency. A method for quantifying the appraiser's qualitative judgment of a technology's potential profitability and associated risk, termed technology utility, is subsequently developed and integrated across the selected methods. Moreover, through an analysis of walk-away point and royalty structure, the dissemination perspective is given due consideration and some practical guidelines are suggested. Lastly in the development, a pricing process for employing the framework is presented, indicating the different steps involved and the considerations necessary. A case implementation on a CERN technology is thereafter provided, together with a thorough sensitivity analysis and discussion of the thesis.
MODE OF ENTRY INTO A NEW MARKET: DOES THE TIMING OF ENTRY AND/OR EFFECT OF INNOVATION ON COMPETENCIES MATTER?

Focusing on the timing of entry has led to a relative neglect of the mode of entry into a new market. The purpose of this research is to extend the literature on market entry by developing and testing a model that predicts the entry mode into a new innovative market. The entry mode is here characterized as a function of two parameters: the entry timing and the effect of innovation on firm’s capabilities. Four modes of governance are included in the model: internal development, acquisition, alliance, and market transaction. The empirical analysis examines 76 entries that occurred in the U.S. online brokerage market between 1995 and 1999. Results of the multinomial logit indicate that: 1) internal development is favored by late entrants, 2) alliances and acquisitions are favored by late entrants, 3) market transactions play a significant role during the emerging phase of the market. Results regarding internal development and market transactions are contrary to our predictions. Results also indicate that the impact of innovation on firm’s capabilities does not appear to influence the mode of entry into a new innovative market.
The Impact of User-Generated Content on Sales : A Randomized Field Experiment

This study examines the causal relationship between popularity information and purchasing behavior in an online store. In a randomized field experiment we exogenously manipulated the visibility of user-generated content similar to Google’s +1s or Facebook’s Likes. Displaying the number of people who “Like” a product caused a +12.97% sales increase (13,883.74 EUR in the treatment group; 12,289.46 EUR in the control group). We find that popularity information influences shopping behavior significantly if it is displayed in the consumers’ leisure time. This result is consistent with observational learning. For well-planned and goal-oriented purchases, knowing the preferences of others is of little importance. This information is more valuable on not so goal-oriented and, hence, more time-consuming shopping trips where consumers are searching for interesting, new products. The results also suggest that Likes have a significant monetary value, but without orthogonal variation, the valuation of Likes can easily be overestimated (by a factor of 2.26 in our sample).
Structure and assembly model for the Trypanosoma cruzi 60S ribosomal subunit

Significance The pathogenic trypanosomatids—Trypanosoma cruzi, Trypanosoma brucei, and Leishmania spp. —are the causative agents of Chagas disease, African trypanosomiasis, and leishmaniasis, respectively. These diseases, with high morbidity and mortality rates, affect millions of people worldwide. Current treatments typically use drugs with high toxicity and marginal efficacy. Here we present, a 2.5-Å structure of the T. cruzi ribosome large subunit by single-particle cryo-EM. Our structure highlights distinctive trypanosome interactions and has allowed us to propose a tentative model for assembly of the 60S large ribosomal subunit. These atomic details highlighting trypanosome-specific interactions and the differences between T. cruzi and the human ribosome can be used directly for structure-based drug design of antitrypanosome drugs. Ribosomes of trypanosomatids, a family of protozoan parasites causing debilitating human diseases, possess multiply fragmented rRNAs that together are analogous to 28S rRNA, unusually large rRNA expansion segments, and r-protein variations compared with other eukaryotic ribosomes. To investigate the architecture of the trypanosomatid ribosomes, we determined the 2.5-Å structure of the Trypanosoma cruzi ribosome large subunit by single-particle cryo-EM. Examination of this structure and comparative analysis of the yeast ribosomal assembly pathway allowed us to develop a stepwise assembly model for the eight pieces of the large subunit rRNAs and a number of ancillary “glue” proteins. This model can be applied to the characterization of Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania spp. ribosomes as well. Together with other details, our atomic-level structure may provide a foundation for structure-based design of antitrypanosome drugs.
Short-term gain, long-term pain? The long-run implications of outsourcing for organisational innovation and productivity

The paper examines the relationship between organisational innovation, the introduction of new internet-based ICTs, de-verticalisation, and the rapid growth in business service outsourcing over the last decade. In order to examine this issue, a model of organisational innovation is developed. In this model, the goal of managers is to identify an organisational design that more effectively integrates all the administrative activities of the firm. As part of the process of innovation, the managers can choose to carry out an administrative activity in-house or to outsource that activity. Key factors influencing this decision are the relative information costs of organising activities internally and the information costs associated with setting up and maintaining interfaces with external suppliers. The framework is examined within the context of a novel model of organisational innovation. Simulations conducted on this model enabled us to consider the short- and long-run impacts of outsourcing on administration overheads and on long-term productivity growth. An interesting finding is that managers of a firm can become locked into a low productivity growth trajectory, associated with the outsourcing of activities, if they are myopic and learn through their own actions. They perceive outsourcing to cut overhead costs in the short-run (as expected), and so engage in further outsourcing thereafter. This is to the detriment of long-run productivity gains (system economies) generated though organisational innovation. This occurs because the potential for organisational innovation is reduced when modular components are outsourced, placing them beyond the control of the firm’s management. The findings accord with the empirical data, and provide a salutary warning to managers and policy-makers about the potential long-term implications of outsourcing.
Polymorphisms in IS1311, an insertion sequence common to Mycobacterium avium and M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis, can be used to distinguish between and within these species.

IS1311 is an insertion sequence from Mycobacterium avium and M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis. Using a 180 bp fragment of IS 1311 as a probe, 7-10 copies of IS1311 were revealed in strains of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis. With a given restriction enzyme, the restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns obtained from isolates of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis from cattle were all identical, but they differed from those of isolates from sheep, which could be separated into two types. A 1259 bp fragment of IS1311 produced by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from two isolates of M. avium subsp.paratuberculosis from cattle and two isolates from sheep was sequenced and compared to the sequence known from M. avium. Apart from five point differences the sequences were identical. Restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) of the PCR product was used to distinguish isolates of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis from M. avium, in addition to the conventional test for IS900. In isolates of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis from cattle the IS1311 gene was polymorphic at position 223, which enabled isolates from sheep and cattle to be distinguished by PCR-REA. These simple tests will be used to enhance disease control programmes for Johne's disease in ruminants. The findings of this study raise interesting questions about the evolution of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis.