Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Substitution effects of a carbonated hydroxyapatite biomaterial against intoxication chloride nickel-exposed rats

Abstract Aims: This study aimed to investigate the potential effects of a synthetic apatite (carbonated hydroxyapatite) on the detoxification of a group of male “Wistar” rats exposed to nickel chloride. Methods: Toxicity was evaluated by rats' bioassay of nickel chloride. Wistar rats received this metal daily by gavage for seven days (4 mg/ml nickel chloride/200 g body weight, BW). To detoxify this organism, a subcutaneous implantation of the apatite is made. Results: The results revealed that exposure to nickel induced oxidative stress, disorders in the balances of ferric phosphocalcic, renal failures, liver toxicity and significant increase in nickel rates in the bones of intoxicated rats. The application of the carbonated hydroxyapatite presented in this study restored those disorders back to normal. The synthetic apatite protected the rats against the toxic effects of nickel by lowering the levels of lipid peroxidation markers and improving the activities of defense enzymes. It also amended ferric and phosphocalcic equilibriums, protected liver and kidney functions and reduced the nickel rate in the bones of the rats. Overall, the results provided strong support for the protective role of carbonated hydroxyapatite in the detoxification of rats exposed to nickel. Those beneficial effects were further confirmed by physico-chemical characterization (X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy), which revealed its property of anionic and cationic substitution, thus supporting its promising candidacy for future biomedical application. Conclusion: The hydroxyapatite is an effective biomaterial to solve health problems, particularly detoxification against metals (nickel).
Image reconstruction from fan-beam projections on less than a short scan

This work is concerned with 2D image reconstruction from fan-beam projections. It is shown that exact and stable reconstruction of a given region-of-interest in the object does not require all lines passing through the object to be measured. Complete (non-truncated) fan-beam projections provide sufficient information for reconstruction when ‘every line passing through the region-of-interest intersects the vertex path in a non-tangential way’. The practical implications of this condition are discussed and a new filtered-backprojection algorithm is derived for reconstruction. Experiments with computer-simulated data are performed to support the mathematical results.
Enhancing online personal connections through the synchronized sharing of online video

Going to movies in a group and inviting friends over to watch TV are common social activities. This social engagement both improves the viewing experience and helps us stay close with our friends and family. To bring this feeling of co-presence to the Internet, we developed a set of prototypes that enable people to feel more connected by watching web video together in sync. We present the preliminary results of a quantitative usage study and show initial evidence that simultaneous video sharing online can help people feel closer and more connected to their friends and family.
Take the Good With the Bad

Institutional barriers frustrate third-party challenges to major-party dominance in American politics. Conventional wisdom claims that the ballot access petitioning requirement hurts minor parties. This claim, however, conflates two dimensions of third-party success: (a) ability to get on the ballot and (b) ability of actual candidates to win votes. The requirement is hypothesized to have a negative effect on the first dimension but a positive effect on the second. Modeling these two dimensions separately gives evidence of cross-cutting effects. The first equation is a probit model of entry that shows third-party candidates are more likely to enter when the requirement is low. The second equation is an OLS regression, which only includes the subsample of districts where at least one third-party candidate gained ballot access, that shows third-party candidates win more votes in districts with a higher requirement.
The Klebsiella pneumoniae O Antigen Contributes to Bacteremia and Lethality during Murine Pneumonia

ABSTRACT Bacterial surface carbohydrates are important pathogenic factors in gram-negative pneumonia infections. Among these factors, O antigen has been reported to protect pathogens against complement-mediated killing. To examine further the role of O antigen, we insertionally inactivated the gene encoding a galactosyltransferase necessary for serotype O1 O-antigen synthesis (wbbO) from Klebsiella pneumoniae 43816. Analysis of the mutant lipopolysaccharide by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis confirmed the absence of O antigen. In vitro, there were no detectable differences between wild-type K. pneumoniae and the O-antigen-deficient mutant in regard to avid binding by murine complement C3 or resistance to serum- or whole-blood-mediated killing. Nevertheless, the 72-h 50% lethal dose of the wild-type strain was 30-fold greater than that of the mutant (2 × 103 versus 6 × 104 CFU) after intratracheal injection in ICR strain mice. Despite being less lethal, the mutant organism exhibited comparable intrapulmonary proliferation at 24 h compared to the level of the wild type. Whole-lung chemokine expression (CCL3 and CXCL2) and bronchoalveolar inflammatory cell content were also similar between the two infections. However, whereas the wild-type organism produced bacteremia within 24 h of infection in every instance, bacteremia was not seen in mutant-infected mice. These results suggest that during murine pneumonia caused by K. pneumoniae, O antigen contributes to lethality by increasing the propensity for bacteremia and not by significantly changing the early course of intrapulmonary infection.
Stock Price and Systematic Risk Effects of Discontinuation of Corporate R&D Programs

We extend the evidence on whether investors impound efficiently into stock prices new disclosures about corporate RD however, it is not robust to controlling for possible risk dimensions for firms with R&D capital that the three-factor model does not capture. Evidently, investors' initial response at disclosures of discontinuation of corporate R&D programs is efficient.
A RESIDUE-PAIRING ALOGRITHM FOR INSAR PHASE UNWRAPPING

Phase unwrapping is a key problem to generate digital elevation maps (DEMs) by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry. A lot of phase unwrapping algorithms have been proposed to solve this problem. However, in noisy region, many unwrapping algorithms are inoperative because of the denseness of residues. In this paper, we propose a path following phase unwrapping method, namely Residue-Pairing (RP) algorithm. The algorithm starts from residues, based on the aggregate of coordinates of each positive residues (or negative residues), to search the nearest opposite polar residue and connect them. Compared to the Goldstein’s algorithm, the brunch cuts produced by this algorithm can effectively decrease their total length and contract the isolated region especially in noisy region. With raw data simulation, the results confirm the validity of RP algorithm in dense-residues region.
Funding intergenerational initiatives to strengthen local communities

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how funding support for intergenerational initiatives can have a positive impact on individuals and communities. The author aims to argue that there are strong motivations for organisations and associations supported by local and national government to adopt intergenerational approaches to their work and to outline areas where need for future work remains.Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes learning gained from initiatives supported through a four‐year funding programme by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Highlighting research by a range of parties on the need for and value of intergenerational work, the article moves on to describing key success factors identified through its own programme of work in creating high impact intergenerational work.Findings – Drawing on experience gained from the support of some 50 projects under the Foundation's programme, a number of key elements are identified in the paper as particularly effective in.
Stand dynamics modulate water cycling and mortality risk in droughted tropical forest

Transpiration from the Amazon rainforest generates an essential water source at a global and local scale. However, changes in rainforest function with climate change can disrupt this process, causing significant reductions in precipitation across Amazonia, and potentially at a global scale. We report the only study of forest transpiration following a long‐term (>10 year) experimental drought treatment in Amazonian forest. After 15 years of receiving half the normal rainfall, drought‐related tree mortality caused total forest transpiration to decrease by 30%. However, the surviving droughted trees maintained or increased transpiration because of reduced competition for water and increased light availability, which is consistent with increased growth rates. Consequently, the amount of water supplied as rainfall reaching the soil and directly recycled as transpiration increased to 100%. This value was 25% greater than for adjacent nondroughted forest. If these drought conditions were accompanied by a modest increase in temperature (e.g., 1.5°C), water demand would exceed supply, making the forest more prone to increased tree mortality.
Deep MicroRNA sequencing reveals downregulation of miR‐29a in neuroblastoma central nervous system metastasis

Central nervous system (CNS) is an increasingly common site of isolated metastasis for patients with Stage 4 neuroblastoma. To explore the microRNA (miRNA) profile of this metastatic process, miRNA sequencing was performed to identify miRNA sequence families with differential expression between tumor pairs (pre‐CNS primary and CNS metastasis) from 13 patients with Stage 4 neuroblastoma. Seven miRNA sequence families had distinct expression in CNS metastases when compared with their corresponding pre‐CNS primaries. MiR‐7 was upregulated (3.75‐fold), and miR‐21, miR‐22, miR‐29a, miR‐143, miR‐199a‐1‐3p, and miR‐199a‐1‐5p were downregulated (3.5‐6.1‐fold), all confirmed by quantitative reverse transcription‐PCR. MiR‐29a, previously shown to be downregulated in a broad spectrum of solid tumors including neuroblastoma, had the most significant decrease in all 13 CNS metastases (P = 0.001). Its known onco‐targets CDC6, CDK6, and DNMT3A, as well as B7‐H3, an inhibitory ligand for T cells, and natural killer cells, were found to have higher differential expression in these 13 CNS metastases when compared with their paired primaries. Additionally, miR‐29a expression in primary tumors was significantly lower among patients who eventually relapsed in the CNS. Irrespective of the amplification status of MYCN, which is known to be associated with metastasis, pre‐CNS primaries, and CNS metastases had significantly lower miR‐29a expression than non‐CNS primary tumors. Among MYCN amplified cell lines, those from CNS relapse also had lower miR‐29a expression than non‐CNS relapse. These findings raised the hypothesis that miR‐29a could be a biomarker for neuroblastoma CNS metastasis, and its downregulation may play a pivotal role in CNS progression. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Invited Commentary---Why Does Poor Service Prevail?

In their article “Marketing Models of Service and Relationships,” Rust and Chung (2006) provide a detailed and useful review of service and relationship marketing models and outline interesting new directions for future research. One would hope that the recent attention to service marketing will help services improve financial performance while improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. Recent reports in the popular media, however, suggest that service quality and customer satisfaction are declining. “It’s a Service Economy, But Where’s the Service? ” wondered the author of a New York Times article a few years ago (Miller 1997), and “Why Service Stinks? ” asked a Business Week cover story (Brady 2000). According to the latter, “studies by groups ranging from the Council of Better Business Bureaus Inc. to the University of Michigan vividly detail what consumers already know: Good service is increasingly rare. From passengers languishing in airport queues to bank clients caught in voicemail hell, most consumers feel they’re getting squeezed by Corporate America’s push for profits and productivity. ” More recently, a Wall Street Journal article titled “Cases of ‘Customer Rage’ Mount as Bad Service Prompts Venting” suggests that “U.S. companies are driving their customers crazy” (Spencer 2003). The purpose of this comment is to briefly discuss why, in light of all the research Rust and Chung (2006) point to, poor service may still prevail. We review some of the existing marketing models aimed at addressing this issue and suggest directions for future
Legal challenges in ensuring regular maintenance and repairs of owner‐occupied apartment blocks

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare different apartment ownership systems and analyze how to enhance the regular maintenance and repair of owner‐occupied apartment buildings. The dwellings themselves are often in fairly good condition, but the common parts (e.g. walls, roofs, stairwells, and technical installations) are often poorly maintained.Design/methodology/approach – Apartment ownership systems in ten European countries (Austria, England, Finland, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland) are analyzed, along with Canada, China, Russia, and the USA, and some of the main findings from each country are presented. The material studied is primary legal sources together with the relevant literature.Findings – It seems that there are severe obstacles in the legislation of many countries. Some of these obstacles are: the non‐existence of a proper decision‐making body (e.g. homeowners' association); the wide use of a qualified majority, or even the use of consensu.
Crude oil hedging strategy: new evidence from the data of the financial crisis

This article examines the performance of three multivariate conditional volatility models with respect to crude oil spot and futures returns: the Dynamic Conditional Correlation (DCC) model, Asymmetric Dynamic Conditional Correlation (A-DCC) model and Diagonal Baba-Engle-Kraft-Kroner (Diagonal BEKK) model. Moreover, the article proposes using the time-varying optimal hedge ratio (OHR) to build a hedging strategy in the market, taking advantage of these multivariate conditional volatility models. We employ daily spot and futures data from the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil market from 3 January 2007 to 30 December 2011. Variance of portfolios and hedging effectiveness index show that the performance in terms of reducing variance is good in order of A-DCC, DCC and Diagonal-BEKK.
Performance optimization for inerter-based double wishbone suspension system

This paper is concerned with the numerical simulation and optimization problem for inerter-based suspension struts for double wishbone vehicle suspension. A well-established double wishbone vehicle model is modified to facilitate the inerter-based suspension simulation based on Simulink/SimMechanics. The obtained SimMechanics model is inherently nonlinear and the simulation is time-consuming. Therefore, a time-efficient optimization method is proposed in this paper. A simplified linear state-space model for parameter optimization is derived by assuming a constant suspension angle. The correctness of the simplified model is verified by comparing the responses based on the simplified model and the nonlinear SimMechanics model. An inerter-based strut composed of a series-connected inerter and damper is optimized based on the simplified model, the performance of which is evaluated by using the original SimMechanics model. Comparison between the cases with and without inerter is performed, where it is shown that by introducing inerter to the double wishbone suspension system, the ride comfort performance can be effectively improved. This demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed optimization method and the performance benefits of using inerters.
The influence of capability considerations on the outsourcing decision: the case of a manufacturing company

The study of outsourcing has been influenced by a number of theories from a range of disciplines including industrial economics, business strategy, and management accounting. In particular, the resource-based theory of the firm has been increasing in prominence in outsourcing as companies pursue competence-based strategies to achieve competitive advantage. This paper assesses the utility of the resource-based theory as a theoretical lens to understand the outsourcing decision in a manufacturing context. A prescriptive outsourcing framework is presented which was developed from the resource-based theory and carrying out in-depth case study research in a manufacturing company. The findings illustrate that the framework provides a useful basis for practical prescription in a manufacturing environment. However, the research reveals a number of the limitations of the framework, including the need to consider more fully the implications of supply market conditions on outsourcing decisions.
Multiparticle entanglement purification for graph states.

We introduce a class of multiparticle entanglement purification protocols that allow us to distill a large class of entangled states. These include cluster states, Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states, and various error correction codes all of which belong to the class of two-colorable graph states. We analyze these schemes under realistic conditions and observe that they are scalable; i.e., the threshold value for imperfect local operations does not depend on the number of parties for many of these states. When compared to schemes based on bipartite entanglement purification, the protocol is more efficient and the achievable quality of the purified states is larger. As an application we discuss an experimental realization of the protocol in optical lattices which allows one to purify cluster states.
Unemployment and real oil prices in Australia: a fractionally cointegrated approach

The article examines the relationship between unemployment and real oil prices in Australia using fractionally cointegrated techniques. Using a two-step procedure based on the univariate tests of Robinson, the results show that both variables are fractionally cointegrated, with the long-run equilibrium errors being nonstationary but mean reverting.
Correcting Linguistic Training Bias in an FAQ-bot using LSTM-VAE

We consider an automated assistant that has been deployed in a large multinational organization to answer employee FAQs. The system is based on an LSTM classiﬁer that has been trained on a corpus of questions and answers carefully prepared by a small team of domain experts. We ﬁnd that linguistic training bias creeps into the manually created training data due to speciﬁc phrases being used, with little or no variation, which biases the deep-learning classiﬁer towards incorrect features. Further, often the FAQs as envisaged by the trainers are in fact incomplete, and transferring linguistic variations across question-answer pairs can uncover new question classes for which answers are missing. In this paper we demonstrate that an LSTM-based variational auto-encoder (VAE) can be used to automatically generate linguistically novel questions, which, (a) corrects classiﬁer bias when added to the training set, (b) uncovers incompleteness in the set of answers and (c) improves the accuracy and generalization abilities of the base LSTM classiﬁer, enabling it to learn from smaller training sets.
Organising for sustainable natural resource management: representation, leadership and partnerships at four spatial scales

Sustainability of natural resources is currently a concern worldwide. The ecological and economic aspects of sustainability have received substantial research attention, but the social aspects of sustainability are less well understood. Participation by affected communities in natural resource management decisions is pivotal to social sustainability. As such, this study examined ten case studies of participation and decision-making by natural resource management groups involved in agriculture in the south-west of Australia. Groups at four spatial scales were studied, including the State, regional, land conservation district (Shire) and subcatchment. Drawing on these ten case studies, this study analysed participation in these groups from the perspectives of representation, leadership and partnership. Crucial elements of this analysis included identifying the desirable attributes of participation in terms of achieving social sustainability, and then comparing current practice against these ideals. The study concludes with comments about the efficacy at each spatial scale of current approaches to participation in terms of social sustainability. Central conclusions from this study follow. Some scales are performing better than others in terms of meeting the expectations expressed through the desirable criteria. The State scale is performing well, in terms of its mandate, with its lower expectations than those ascribed to regional and subcatchment scales clearly being met. On the other hand, the expectations associated with the community- and government-led regional groups and subcatchment groups are enormous. The only place where there was any major difference between the three was in representation: it was barely considered by respondents from the subcatchment groups, while for the regional groups less of the expectations were met by the community-led than government-led groups. Otherwise they were very similar. The land conservation districts, caught between the regions and subcatchments, seem to be faring the poorest.
Inflation–growth relationship in selected Asian developing countries: evidence from panel data

We question the empirical foundation of keeping inflation at 5% or below in developing economies. Using System Generalized Method of Moments we investigate the issue in the context of 14 Asian developing countries for the period 1961–2010. We find no robust empirical justification for targeting inflation at such a low level. The inflation threshold for these countries is found around 13% and it may range between 7% and 14% depending on the level of development. The findings suggest that developing countries can gain from moderate levels of inflation and should not be alarmed when inflation crosses the 5% benchmark.
RNase P Ribozymes Selected in Vitro to Cleave a Viral mRNA Effectively Inhibit Its Expression in Cell Culture*

An in vitro selection procedure was used to select RNase P ribozyme variants that efficiently cleaved the sequence of the mRNA encoding thymidine kinase of herpes simplex virus 1. Of the 45 selected variants sequenced, 25 ribozymes carried a common mutation at nucleotides 224 and 225 of RNase P catalytic RNA from Escherichia coli (G224G225 → AA). These selected ribozymes exhibited at least 10 times higher cleavage efficiency (k cat/K m ) than that derived from the wild type ribozyme. Our results suggest that the mutated A224A225 are in close proximity to the substrate and enhance substrate binding of the ribozyme. When these ribozyme variants were expressed in herpes simplex virus 1-infected cells, the levels of thymidine kinase mRNA and protein were reduced by 95–99%. Our study provides the first direct evidence that RNase P ribozyme variants isolated by the selection procedure can be used for the construction of gene-targeting ribozymes that are highly effective in tissue culture. These results demonstrate the potential for using RNase P ribozymes as gene-targeting agents against any mRNA sequences, and using the selection procedure as a general approach for the engineering of RNase P ribozymes.