Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ethnocentrism in a Pluralistic Society: A Concept Analysis

Development of culturally competent nursing care requires an examination of ethnocentric values and behaviors. Ethnocentric practices, as shown in the literature, have resulted in adverse patient care outcomes. Although it is recognized that awareness of personal values is the key to developing cultural competence, ethnocentrism is woven into the fabric of one’s own cultural makeup. Ethnocentrism is not clearly defined in the nursing literature and use of the term is vague and ambiguous. This article utilizes the Walker and Avant method of concept analysis to clarify the meaning of ethnocentrism resulting in a new definition.
Benchmarking e‐learning: trialling the “MIT90s” framework

Purpose – The paper aims to focus on the University of Glamorgan benchmarking activity aimed at assessing its progress towards the embedding of e‐learning. This activity was part of a wider UK benchmarking exercise managed by the Higher Education Academy and the Joint Information Systems Committee.Design/methodology/approach – The university opted to trial the MIT90s framework; a framework developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that was designed to encourage organisations to understand the dynamics of transformation vis‐a‐vis the acquisition of technology. The MIT90s framework had not previously been associated with the benchmarking of e‐learning and this paper is case study evidence on the experiences of trialling the framework.Findings – Benchmarking e‐learning, and using the MIT90s framework in particular, is not a trivial exercise. Adapting a model with roots in IT/ICT towards more pedagogic‐related activities was a challenging, yet rewarding, process. Applying the framework stim.
Cost drivers and deployment scenarios for future broadband wireless networks - key research problems and directions for research

The most prominent problem in providing anywhere, anytime wideband mobile access is the towering infrastructure cost as it is basically proportional to the bandwidth provided. We provide a simple, initial, analysis of the various infrastructure cost factors. This analysis shows that, contrary to what one may expect, the infrastructure cost is not dominated by electronic equipment, but rather by other deployment related costs (towers, wiring, building, network connections) and maintenance costs. In the paper some novel architectural approaches for future wideband mobile access focusing on these dominant cost factors are described and the related key research issues are discussed.
Towards a Filipino WordNet

A WordNet is a database of semantically linked lexicon. It had been used in several NLP applications like information retrieval and extraction, document structuring and categorization, audio and video retrieval, language teaching, translational applications, and parameterisable information systems. Currently, WordNets have already been developed using around forty languages around the world but despite its numerous applications, there is still no WordNet developed for the Filipino language. FilWordNet is a WordNet for Filipino that would be built using the top down approach in WordNet building as was used in building several other WordNets. It would explore on using the SUMO ontology as a structured inter-lingual index to link FilWordNet to other WordNets and explore on automating parts of the WordNet building process.
Cytoplasmic STAT4 Promotes Antiviral Type I IFN Production by Blocking CHIP-Mediated Degradation of RIG-I

Retinoic acid–inducible gene I (RIG-I) signaling is critical to host innate immune response against RNA virus infection. Numerous factors use different mechanisms to regulate RIG-I signaling. In this study, we report that STAT family member STAT4 promotes RIG-I–triggered type I IFN production in antiviral innate immunity. Silencing of STAT4 impaired IFN-β production in macrophages upon RNA virus infection, whereas overexpression of STAT4 enhanced RIG-I–induced IFN-β promoter activation and IFN-stimulated response element activity. Silencing of STAT4 increased degradation of RIG-I. Interestingly, during RNA virus infection STAT4 was found to be constantly present in cytoplasm of macrophages without Tyr693 phosphorylation, which is required for its classical activation and nuclear translocation. Mechanistically, cytoplasmic STAT4 could interact with E3 ligase CHIP and block RIG-I and CHIP association, preventing CHIP-mediated proteasomal degradation of RIG-I via K48-linked ubiquitination. Our study provides a new manner for posttranslational regulation of RIG-I signaling and identifies a previously unknown function of cytoplasm-localized STAT4 in antiviral innate immunity.
Clustering analysis for determining the key interests in the financial literature using text mining

New economy in the era of globalization once more attracts novel investment strategies with modern analysis methods. Data mining in the last decade has been a major source of strategy implementation process in banking sectors. The volume of unstructured textual data which was generated and stored previously, has been increasing rapidly on the web. Thus, the need for processing this vast amount of text is increasing also. Text mining aims to extract novel and useful information from large amount of unstructured textual data in a semi-automatic way. In this study, we perform text-mining steps on the corpus containing the abstracts of scientific articles of five major journals publishing in the finance, economics and banking fields. For clustering of terms and detecting main topics of text on the term - document data created by text mining processes k-means clustering and singular value decomposition (SVD) methods are applied. In this study, findings demonstrate that text mining can be a very useful tool to investigate the change of trends and summarization of literature.
ADVERTISING EFFECTS AND EFFECTIVENESS

The results of the application of an integrated econometric time‐series model for advertising effectiveness is presented. The model form gives rise to three possible advertising effects: brand loyalty, current effects (both simple and compound) and carryover effects. The inherent nature of these effects is related to the degree of involvement and the affective or cognitive aspects of the purchase decision. Consequently, the positioning of the product on the Foote, Cone & Belding grid may be used to hypothesize the nature of effects. The results of the application of this model to new car purchases in the South African market by media type lead to the propositions that: (1) the creative devices and content of an advertisement determine whether it will be effective but not the magnitude of the effect; (2) the magnitude of the effectiveness of an advertisement is dictated by the extent to which the medium in which it is placed is used.
Vitalizing management systems in organizations: The role of culture, leadership and human resource management

The phenomenon of productive organizational energy encompasses a collective positive drive in organizations and is characterized by employees that collectively demonstrate positive emotions with regard to their work, high mental alertness and a concentrated effort to pursue organizationally-salient objectives. Up to now, we know that this phenomenon is highly relevant for organizations ́ ability to change and for their overall performance. However, past studies did not focus on how it can be fostered over a longer period of time. This dissertation addresses this gap and explores which intra-organizational stable conditions in the fields of organizational culture and leadership can help to foster and maintain productive organizational energy. In study 1, I draw on a sample of 118 organizations to investigate the influence of cultural aspects on productive organizational energy. The analyses reveal that certain behavioral patterns in organizations – e.g. extraverted or agreeable behaviors – positively influence the level of productive organizational energy and, subsequently, organizational performance. Study 2 concentrates on leadership behaviors in organizations and is based on 76 companies. I reveal that a climate of transformational leadership is helpful in maintaining productive organizational energy and that this can be further supported by a human resource management approach that is based on long-term commitment. The main goal of study 3 is to develop ideas for potential boundary conditions in the sustainment of productive organizational energy. In a single case study design I closely investigate the phenomenon of productive organizational energy at Phoenix Contact, a German manufacturer of industrial electric and electronic technology. The analyses reveal that uncertainty and trust might strengthen the effects that human resource practices and leadership exert on productive organizational energy. Besides the presentation of the different studies, this dissertation also includes practical recommendations for human resource managers, leaders, and senior executives on how to sustain productive organizational energy and therewith ensure long-term organizational success.
Repeated influenza vaccination of healthy children and adults: borrow now, pay later?

SUMMARY A growing number of publications are recommending annual influenza vaccination of healthy children and adults. However, the long-term consequences of repeated influenza vaccination are unknown. We used a simple model of recurrent influenza infection to assess the likely impact of various repeated influenza vaccination scenarios. The model was based on a Markovian framework and was fitted on annual incidence rates of influenza infection by age. We found that natural influenza infection reduced the risk of being re-infected by 15·4% (95% confidence interval 7·1–23·0). Various scenarios of repeated influenza vaccination were then simulated and compared with a reference scenario where vaccination is given from age 65 years onwards. We show that repeated vaccination at a young age substantially increases the risk of influenza in older age, by a factor ranging between 1·2 (vaccination after 50 years) to 2·4 (vaccination from birth). These findings have important implications for influenza vaccination policies.
An Investigation of Voluntary Disclosure in Annual Reports: The Malaysian Evidence

This study examines the relationship betweenfive firm-specific characteristics and the general level of financial ratios that were voluntarily disclosed by companies listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLCE). Thev five firm-specific characteristics examined are: firm size, leverage, assets-in-place, type of auditor and sector of the company. The results obtained from cross-sectional regression show that firm size is the only variable significantly related to the extent of financial ratio disclosure. however, based on the ectension empirical model, it is found out that a type of auditor is also significant but only for the construction sector. As a general finding, the level of voluntary disclosure of financial ratios by firms in Malaysia is still low.
Establishing and validating a new source analysis method using phase

Electroencephalogram (EEG) measures the brain oscillatory activity non-invasively. The localization of deep brain generators of the electric fields is essential for understanding neuronal function in healthy humans and for damasking specific regions that cause abnormal activity in patients with neurological disorders. The aim of this study was to test whether the phase estimation from scalp data can be reliably used to identify the number of dipoles in source analyses. The steps performed included: i) modeling different phasic oscillatory signals using auto-regressive processes at a particular frequency, ii) simulation of two different noises, namely white and colored noise, having different signal-to-noise ratios, iii) simulation of dipoles at different areas in the brain and iv) estimation of the number of dipoles by calculating the phase differences of the simulated signals. Moreover we applied this method of source analysis on real data from temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients. The analytical framework was successful in identifying the sources and their orientations in the simulated data and identified the epileptogenic area in the studied patients which was confirmed by pathological studies after TLE surgery.
Towards a better understanding of the specificity of protein–protein interaction

In order to predict interaction interface for proteins, it is crucial to identify their characteristic features controlling the interaction process. We present analysis of 69 crystal structures of dimer protein complexes that provides a basis for reasonable description of the phenomenon. Interaction interfaces of two proteins at amino acids level were localized and described in terms of their chemical composition, binding preferences, and residue interaction energies utilizing Amber empirical force field. The characteristic properties of the interaction interface were compared against set of corresponding intramolecular binding parameters for amino acids in proteins. It has been found that geometrically distinct clusters of large hydrophobic amino acids (leucine, valine, isoleucine, and phenylalanine) as well as polar tyrosines and charged arginines are signatures of the protein–protein interaction interface. At some extent, we can generalize that protein–protein interaction (seen through interaction between amino acids) is very similar to the intramolecular arrangement of amino acids, although intermolecular pairs have generally lower interaction energies with their neighbors. Interfaces, therefore, possess high degree of complementarity suggesting also high selectivity of the process. The utilization of our results can improve interface prediction algorithms and improve our understanding of protein–protein recognition. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Seven-coordinate Manganese(II) Complex Formed with the Tripodal Tetradentate Ligand Tris(N-methylbenzimidazol-2-ylmethyl)amine

A seven-coordinate manganese(II) complex with the tripodal tetradentate ligand tris(N-methylbenzimidazol- 2-ylmethyl)amine (Mentb), with composition [Mn(Mentb)(α-methacrylate)(DMF)]- (ClO4) · (DMF), was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, electrical conductivity, and IR and UV/Vis spectral measurements. The crystal structure of the complex has been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The MnII cation is bonded to a Mentb ligand, an α-methacrylate ligand and a DMF molecule through four N atoms and three O atoms, resulting in a seven-coordinate geometry. Cyclovoltammograms of the complex indicate a quasireversible Mn3+/Mn2+ couple. The X-band EPR spectrum of the complex exhibits a six-line manganese hyperfine pattern with g = 2, A = 91, and confirms that the material is high-spin Mn(II).
Analysis of the 2-kilobase latency-associated transcript expressed in PC12 cells productively infected with herpes simplex virus type 1: evidence for a stable, nonlinear structure

The major latency-associated transcript (LAT) expressed in PC12 cells productively infected with herpes simplex virus type 1 is a 2-kb, nonpolyadenylated RNA molecule that accumulates in the nuclei of infected cells. In actinomycin D-treated cells, the 2-kb LAT gene transcript has a half-life considerably greater than 12 h. After polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, two species of the transcript were observed, a major species that was retarded in the gel and a minor species that migrated as a 1.96-kb RNA molecule. RNase H digestion after hybridization of the RNA with an oligonucleotide complementary to positions -80 to -101 relative to the 3' end of the 2-kb LAT gene transcript changed the mobility of the retarded species into that of the rapidly migrating species. Our data indicate that the 2-kb LAT gene transcript expressed in productively infected PC12 cells is present in a stable, nonlinear form.
Overexpression of the Heat Shock Protein HSP70 Family and p53 Protein and Prognosis for Patients with Gastric Cancer

The cell synthesis of heat shock proteins is increased by a variety of environmental and pathophysiological stressful conditions. The 70-kD heat shock protein family (HSP70 family) which constitutively expresses hsc70 and heat-inducible hsp70 is thought to be involved in protein-protein interactions, including oncogene products. We investigated the HSP70 family expression and biological behavior of gastric cancer, and its relation to p53 overexpression. Expressions of HSP70 and p53 in 164 primary gastric tumors were determined immunohistochemically. Exploratory data were analyzed on a set of 164 primary gastric cancers, and we constructed in prognostic significance of the HSP70 expression level and the relation to p53 overexpression. Expression of HSP70 (hsc70 and hsp70) were detected in nuclei and/or cytoplasm of cancer cells. Western blotting analysis showed that hsc70 and hsp70 were both expressed in five gastric cancer cell lines. Immunohistochemically stained positive cells of HSP70 varied from 0 (very weak) to 100%, in each case. The median level of positive cell rate was 19.0%. A HSP70 expression of over 19.0% was related to the differentiated tissue type of gastric cancer, but not to other clinicopathological factors. There was no difference in survival rates in subjects with higher and lower groups of HSP70 expression. HSP70 expression was also not related to p53 overexpression in the nuclei and p53 overexpression-related poorer prognosis. Our findings show that the expression of HSP70 is not associated with tumor advance-related characteristics or with the prognosis of gastric cancer. Measurements of HSP70 expression do not appear to be a useful prognostic marker.
Mobile Traffic Sign Recognition

Traffic sign recognition through artificial intelligence tools is an attractive topic in the computer vision community for its clear applications in the automotive industry. This problem is a subset of the larger problem of improving safe driving through intelligent technologies that can recognize objects on the road and help drivers avoid hazardous situations. In this work we evaluated a number of different machine learning algorithms applied on a large set of traffic signs to detect and recognize traffic signs within about 10ms on mobile
Query-based learning of acyclic conditional preference networks from noisy data

Conditional preference networks (CP-nets) provide a powerful, compact, and intuitive graphical tool to represent the preferences of a user. However learning such a structure is known to be a difficult problem due to its combinatorial nature. We propose in this paper a new, efficient, and robust query-based learning algorithm for acyclic CP-nets. In particular, our algorithm takes into account the incoherences in the user’s preferences or in noisy data by searching in a principled way the variables that condition the other ones. We provide complexity results of the algorithm, and demonstrate its efficiency through an empirical evaluation on synthetic and on real datasets.
Perimuscular connective tissue contains more and larger lymphatic vessels than the shallower layers in human gallbladders.

AIM To clarify whether perimuscular connective tissue contains more lymphatic vessels than the shallower layers in human gallbladders. METHODS Lymphatic vessels were stained immunohistochemically with monoclonal antibody D2-40, which is a specific marker of lymphatic endothelium, in representative sections of 12 normal human gallbladders obtained at the time of resection for colorectal carcinoma liver metastases. In individual gallbladder specimens, nine high-power (x 200) fields with the highest lymphatic vessel density (LVD), termed "hot spots", were identified for each layer (mucosa, muscle layer, and perimuscular connective tissue). In individual hot spots, the LVD and relative lymphatic vessel area (LVA) were measured microscopically using a computer-aided image analysis system. The mean LVD and LVA values for the nine hot spots in each layer were used for statistical analyses. RESULTS In the mucosa, muscle layer, and perimuscular connective tissue, the LVD was 16.1 +/- 9.2, 35.4 +/- 15.7, and 65.5 +/- 12.2, respectively, and the LVA was 0.4 +/- 0.4, 2.1 +/- 1.1, and 9.4 +/- 2.6, respectively. Thus, both the LVD and LVA differed significantly (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively; Kruskal-Wallis test) among the individual layers of the wall of the gallbladder, with the highest LVD and LVA values in the perimuscular connective tissue. Most (98 of 108) of the hot spots within the perimuscular connective tissue were located within 500 mum of the lower border of the muscle layer. CONCLUSION The perimuscular connective tissue contains more and larger lymphatic vessels than the shallower layers in the human gallbladder. This observation partly explains why the incidence of lymph node metastasis is high in T2 (tumor invading the perimuscular connective tissue) or more advanced gallbladder carcinoma.
Comparison and analysis of laparoscopic intracorporeal suturing devices: preliminary results.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE One of the most challenging aspects of laparoscopic surgery is intracorporeal suturing and knot tying. A loss of depth perception and tactile sense and visual obstruction make placing accurate and well-tied knots a difficult and time-consuming task. Two devices conceived to ease the task of suturing and knotting while presumably speeding performance are the Suture Assist (SA; Ethicon Endo-Surgery) and EndoStitch (ES; US Surgical/Tyco). We set out to objectively assess suture placement accuracy and knot speed and strength of these two suturing devices and conventional laparoscopic suturing (CS). MATERIALS AND METHODS To date, six surgeons with laparoscopic experience were trained on the three suturing techniques. A pelvic trainer was set up with a freshly marked and incised swine renal pelvis and ureter. Each surgeon placed four sutures of 2-0 polyester suture with each technique (repeated on three separate occasions) with five half-hitches for a total of 216 knots. Time, strength, and accuracy were measured for each suture/knot placement. The knot distance was then measured from the marked target using calipers and carefully dissected from the tissue. Each knot was individually tested on a Monsanto Model 10 tensiometer, whereby slippage, strength, and breakage points were determined. RESULTS The mean times (min:sec) and accuracy (millimeters) were as following: CS 5:08 and 0.457, ES 2:45 and 0.660, and SA 2:40 and 0.508. The difference in time was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.001), while the difference in accuracy was not. Only 182 of 216 knots were able to be included for analysis because of either a small knot lumen or device failure. Device failures necessitating intervention were encountered only with the SA, which had a misfire rate of 9.7% (7 of 72). The mean knot strength was measured at 41.1 N for CS, 57.3 N for SA, and 28.0 for ES. Knot break percentage (breakage) was calculated as 50.8% for CS, 20.7% for ES, and 95% for SA. CONCLUSION Preliminary results show that each of the laparoscopic suturing devices has distinct advantages over conventional intracorporeal suturing and tying. Decreased times and comparable, if not greater, knot strengths may translate into improved laparoscopic suturing/tying performance for laparoscopic intracorporeal suturing devices.
Managerial Compensation Under Privately-Observed Hedging

This paper studies how private information in hedging outcomes affects the design of managerial compensation when hedging instruments serve as a double-edged sword in that they may be used for both corporate hedging and earnings management. On the one hand, financial vehicles can offer customized contracts that are closely tailored to manage specific risk and improve hedging efficiency. On the other hand, involvement in hedging may give rise to manipulation through misstatement of the value estimates. We show that the use of privately-observed hedging may actually require greater pay-for-performance in managerial compensation. The cross-sectional variations in managerial compensation lend support to our model.