Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The UN Global Compact and the Enlightenment tradition: a rural electrification project under the aegis of the UN Global Compact

Despite extensive academic debate as to what corporate social responsibility (CSR) and other related concepts ought to encompass, there is a lack of critical analysis of what CSR in practice entails, i.e., what actually constitutes CSR practices. This paper critically addresses this question by focusing on one of the most influential CSR initiatives – the UN Global Compact. We demonstrate that the principles of the Global Compact are rooted in a European Enlightenment tradition and, based on a study of an Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) CSR project in a Tanzanian village, we illustrate how these principles translate into corporate projects that challenge local institutions, while remaining unquestioned. The paper concludes by opening a space for discussing the desirability of the Enlightenment ethos manifested in Global Compact projects. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Enhancement in blood-tumor barrier permeability and delivery of liposomal doxorubicin using focused ultrasound and microbubbles: evaluation during tumor progression in a rat glioma model

Effective drug delivery to brain tumors is often challenging because of the heterogeneous permeability of the ‘blood tumor barrier’ (BTB) along with other factors such as increased interstitial pressure and drug efflux pumps. Focused ultrasound (FUS) combined with microbubbles can enhance the permeability of the BTB in brain tumors, as well as the blood–brain barrier in the surrounding tissue. In this study, dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) was used to characterize the FUS-induced permeability changes of the BTB in a rat glioma model at different times after implantation. 9L gliosarcoma cells were implanted in both hemispheres in male rats. At day 9, 14, or 17 days after implantation, FUS-induced BTB disruption using 690 kHz ultrasound and definity microbubbles was performed in one tumor in each animal. Before FUS, liposomal doxorubicin was administered at a dose of 5.67 mg kg−1. This chemotherapy agent was previously shown to improve survival in animal glioma models. The transfer coefficient Ktrans describing extravasation of the MRI contrast agent Gd-DTPA was measured via DCE-MRI before and after sonication. We found that tumor doxorubicin concentrations increased monotonically (823 ± 600, 1817 ± 732 and 2432 ± 448 ng g−1) in the control tumors at 9, 14 and 17 d. With FUS-induced BTB disruption, the doxorubicin concentrations were enhanced significantly (P < 0.05, P < 0.01, and P < 0.0001 at days 9, 14, and 17, respectively) and were greater than the control tumors by a factor of two or more (2222 ± 784, 3687 ± 796 and 5658 ± 821 ng g−1) regardless of the stage of tumor growth. The transfer coefficient Ktrans was significantly (P < 0.05) enhanced compared to control tumors only at day 9 but not at day 14 or 17. These results suggest that FUS-induced enhancements in tumor drug delivery are relatively consistent over time, at least in this tumor model. These results are encouraging for the use of large drug carriers, as they suggest that even large/late-stage tumors can benefit from FUS-induced drug enhancement. Corresponding enhancements in Ktrans were found to be variable in large/late-stage tumors and not significantly different than controls, perhaps reflecting the size mismatch between the liposomal drug (~100 nm) and Gd-DTPA (molecular weight: 938 Da; hydrodynamic diameter: ≃2 nm). It may be necessary to use a larger MRI contrast agent to effectively evaluate the sonication-induced enhanced permeabilization in large/late-stage tumors when a large drug carrier such as a liposome is used.
Broadband time-domain characterization of multiple flip-chip interconnects

This paper presents a comprehensive approach for the characterization of multiple flip-chip interconnects by three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The behaviors of transition discontinuities in three coplanar waveguide (CPW) layers and four flip-chip bump interconnects are investigated for optimal packaging performance. The relationship between the reflection loss and the cross-section of bumps is discussed in detail. Results in this paper shows that FDTD is a reliable method to simulate and aid design of complicated package structures.
Health-insurance Coverage for Low-wage Workers, 1979-2010 and Beyond

This paper uses data from the Current Population Surveys for 1980 through 2011 to review trends in health-insurance coverage rates for low-wage workers (defined as workers in the bottom fifth of the wage distribution in each survey year). In 2010, over 38 percent of low-wage workers lacked health insurance from any source, up from 16 percent in 1979. The biggest reason for the decline in coverage is the erosion of employer-provided health insurance, either through a worker's own employer or as a dependent on another family member's employer-provided policy. Over the last three decades, the role of public insurance in providing coverage for low-wage workers has increased, though not nearly enough to offset the declines in private insurance. In 2010, about 10 percent of low-wage workers had coverage through Medicaid, double the share in 1979. While a great deal of uncertainty still surrounds the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its likely impact on employers and workers, reasonable estimates based on consensus projections suggest that the ACA will have a substantial positive effect on health-insurance coverage rates for low-wage workers. Even so, the ACA will likely leave an important share of low-wage workers, especially low-wage Latino, African American, and Asian workers, as well as many immigrant workers, without coverage. At the same time, if the ACA is blocked – in the courts or in Congress – there is every indication that coverage rates for low-wage workers will continue their long, steady decline.
Obstacles to emergency medical services system design and operational features

Objective: There is a paucity of global research regarding emergency medical services (EMS) systems. EMS system processes and outcomes vary by model and jurisdiction. This study explores the individual, organisational, and system obstacles to 15 features of EMS systems. Methods: Using a multi-case study, five US EMS systems, representing five major design models, were studied. Data collection included: i) data metrics, ii) document review, iii) interviews, and iv) archival records. Results: EMS system performance and adoption of the 15 features varies. A total of 582 independent obstacles in 39 distinct categories were identified. The top obstacles included: cost/funding, measurement, process/outcome focus, systems view, public information/education, understanding productivity, training, will, data definitions, and culture/tradition. Conclusions: Variation in performance exists across EMS system provider models. Adoption of the 15 features studied was not universal. Reported obstacles are opportunities fo.
Multidrug Efflux Pump in Enterococcus faecalis

A DNA fragment responsible for resistance to antimicrobial agents was cloned from the chromosomal DNA of Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 by using drug-hypersensitive mutant Escherichia coli KAM32 as a host cell. Cells of E. coli KAM32 harboring a recombinant plasmid (pAEF82) carrying the DNA fragment became resistant to many structurally unrelated antimicrobial agents, such as norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, acriflavine, 4 ,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole, tetraphenylphosphonium chloride, daunorubicin, and doxorubicin. Since the sequence of the whole genome of E. faecalis is known, we sequenced several portions of the DNA insert in plasmid pAEF82 and identified two open reading frames within the insert. We designated the genes efrA and efrB. A search of the deduced amino acid sequences of EfrA and EfrB revealed that they are similar to each other and that they belong to the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) family of multidrug efflux transporters. Transformed E. coli KAM32 cells harboring efrAB showed energy-dependent efflux of acriflavine. The efflux activity was inhibited by reserpine, verapamil, and sodium-o-vanadate, known inhibitors of ABC efflux pumps.
Developing a sectoral sustainability indicator set taking a stakeholder approach : a conceptual paper including business case presentation to be presented at the 10th International Conference of the Greening of Industry Network, 23-26 June, 2002, Göteborg, Sweden

This paper examines stakeholder participation in sectoral industry initiatives towards sustainable development, looking in particular at developing a sectoral sustainability indicator set. Indicator sets at the sectoral level are crucial to promote sustainable business development. They help to consider fundamental differences between distinct industry sectors by drawing a sector specific picture of an industry’s economic, social and environmental impacts. In this way sectoral indicators are a prerequisite for appropriate measurement and systematic management of an industry sector’s sustainability performance. Additionally, a sectoral approach provides the opportunity to link sustainability initiatives at a macro-economic level (e.g. by the European Commission, Eurostat, the OECD, the German Enquete Commission of Inquiry) with those at the micro-economic level (GRI, AA2000, SA 8000, ISO 14001, CSR Europe). A methodology, called COMPASS, is presented which illustrates how industry can interact with different stakeholders (scientists, members of the public and regulators) in order to develop a sustainability indicator set for an industry sector. Experiences from applying this methodology in practice, where sectoral sustainability indicator sets have been developed taking a stakeholder approach, will be presented. Conclusions are drawn on how the approach for indicator development presented in this paper can capture the specific characteristics of sustainable development.
Popularity analysis of a video-on-demand service in a digital newspaper: influence of the subject, video characteristics and new content publication policy

This paper presents the popularity analysis performed on the www.lne. es video-on-demand service. Its principal special characteristics are the wide range of subjects, the type of contents offered and the daily introduction of several new videos. All of this and its similarity with the majority of the digital news services make it an interesting case study. The analysis pays attention to all the elements which can influence content popularity such as the subject, the video characteristics and the new content introduction policy. Moreover, the results are checked in different timescales and periods of time.
Les Entitées Nommées, de la linguistique au TAL : Statut théorique et méthodes de désambiguïsation. (Named entities, from Linguistics to NLP: Theoretical status and disambiguation methods)

Le traitement des entites nommees fait aujourd’hui figure d’incontournable en Traitement Automatique des Langues. Apparue au milieu des annees 1990 a la faveur des dernieres conferences muc (Message Understanding Conferences), la tâche de reconnaissance et de categorisation des noms de personnes, de lieux, d’organisations, etc. apparait en effet comme fondamentale pour diverses applications participant de l’analyse de contenu et nombreux sont les travaux se consacrant a sa mise en oeuvre, obtenant des resultats plus qu’honorables. Fort de ce succes, le traitement des entites nommees s’oriente desormais vers de nouvelles perspectives avec, entre autres, la desambiguisation et une annotation enrichie de ces unites. Ces nouveaux defis rendent cependant d’autant plus cruciale la question du statut theorique des entites nommees, lequel n’a guere ete discute jusqu’a aujourd’hui. Deux axes de recherche ont par consequent ete investis durant ce travail de these : nous avons, d’une part, tente de proposer une definition des entites nomm ees et, d’autre part, experimente des methodes de desambiguisation. A la suite d’un etat des lieux de la tâche de reconnaissance de ces unites et d’un expose des difficultes pouvant se presenter a l’occasion d’une telle entreprise, il fut avant tout necessaire d’examiner, d’un point de vue methodologique, comment aborder la question de la definition des entites nommees. La demarche adoptee invita a se tourner du cˆote de la linguistique, avec les noms propres et les descriptions definies, puis du cˆote du traitement automatique, ce parcours visant au final a proposer une definition tenant compte tant des aspects du langage que des capacit es et exigences des systemes informatiques. La suite du memoire rend compte d’un travail davantage experimental, avec l’expose d’une methode d’annotation fine tout d’abord, de resolution de metonymie enfin. Ces travaux, combinant approche symbolique et approche distributionnelle, rendent compte de la possibilite d’une double annotation (categories generales et categories fines) et d’une desambiguisation des entites nommees.
Rat retinal dopaminergic neurons: Differential maturation of somatodendritic and axonal compartments

We examined developmental changes in dopaminergic (DA) neurons of rat pups between postnatal (P) days 3 and 21. DA cell bodies and dendrites grew progressively between P3–15. Voltage‐sensitive sodium channels were present in axons at P11, but the ring‐like DA axon terminals appeared only during the third postnatal week. The density of ring terminals increased markedly between P15 and P21. The vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT2) was absent before P13 and became concentrated in DA ring terminals after P17. A steady increase in VMAT2‐containing rings around AII amacrine cells occurred during the third postnatal week. The presynaptic membrane protein SNAP‐25 colocalized with DA terminals, but several other presynaptic proteins tested, including synaptotagmin I, synapsin, bassoon, syntaxin, and synaptogyrin, appeared not to be associated with DA neurons. Our study shows that the somatodendritic compartment of DA neurons matures before the DA axon terminals do. Maturation of DA axons during the third postnatal week corresponds to the period of onset of visual function. J. Comp. Neurol. 481:352–362, 2005. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Corporate Governance in Modern Financial Capitalism

This insightful book focuses upon corporate governance processes, and explores the conditions required for effective corporate governance and control in 21st century globalized and financialized economies. In presenting a comprehensive study of a cross-border hostile corporate take-over process, describing the actors, institutions and events involved, this book examines and questions the current forms of corporate governance and control – both from a national and a global perspective. Using Old Mutual’s takeover of Skandia as a case study, the authors address corporate governance theory, and highlight its two fundamental dimensions: financial and operational flows.
Developing An Audit For SME Salesforce Performance: Some Implications For Sales Organisation Effectiveness

The selling function is a key part of marketing in SME’s, and the personal selling function is a key factor in successful marketing. Research on salesforce performance has been concerned mainly with large companies; there is a dearth of similar studies that have been conducted in SME’s. This pilot study paper examines the relationship between salesforce performance and sales organisation effectiveness in SME’s. The data was largely collected from the healthcare sector in Australia and USA. The results indicate that higher salesforce performance is associated with higher sales organisation effectiveness.
An approach to network security evaluation of computer network information system with triangular fuzzy information

In this paper, we study on the multiple attribute decision making problems for network security evaluation of computer network information system with triangular fuzzy information. Inspried by the idea of geometric Bonferroni mean, we develop the triangular fuzzy geometric Bonferroni mean (TFGBM) operator and triangular fuzzy weighted geometric Bonferroni mean (TFWGBM) operator, based on which we design two procedure for multiple attribute decision making under the triangular fuzzy environments. In the end, a practical example for evaluating the network security evaluation of computer network information system with triangular fuzzy information is given to testify the proposed method.
Nitric oxide induces calcium‐dependent release of [3H]dopamine release from striatal slices

Hydroxylamine (0.01–30 mM), a nitric oxide (NO) generator, produced a concentration‐dependent release of [3H]dopamine ([3H]DA) from rat striatal slices. Hemoglobin (10 μM), a NO scavenger, reduced basal [3H]DA release and blocked hydroxylamine (100 μM)‐stimulated [3H]DA efflux. Tetrodotoxin (0.5 μM) had no significant effect. Sodium cyanide was used as a model compound to test the possibility that NO acted through blockade of mitochondrial electron transport. Calcium‐free experimental buffer (1 mM EGTA) reduced basal release and the hydroxylamine response, while sodium cyanide‐induced release did not change under these experimental conditions. Cadmium (200 μM), a non‐selective inhibitor of voltage‐dependent calcium channels, reduced the hydroxylamine response by 69%. Methylene blue (10 μM), an inhibitor of guanylate cyclase, produced a 3‐fold increase in the basal release but had no significant effect on the hydroxylamine response. These data suggest that NO induces calcium‐dependent [3H]DA release from the striatum via a mechanism which is independent of blockade of electron transport or activation of guanylate cyclase. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The FDA Approach to Defining Misleading Advertising

The amount of time, effort, and money invested to promote prescription drugs in this country is staggering. It is estimated that over $1 billion are spent annually to disseminate information to the physician. This figure is more than three times the total annual budget of all U.S. medical schools, and it constitutes $1 out of every $1000 of the American gross national product. Drug promotion was not regulated with any consistency until the early 1960s. At that time, disclosures before Senator Kefauver's Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopoly revealed that advertising to the medical professions had resulted in serious abuses which required new, specific controls for the protection of the public. On October 10, 1962, the Drug Amendments to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act gave jurisdiction over prescription drug advertising to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In most cases, whether a prescription drug advertisement is false can be objectively determined and is independent of any impact it may have on the consumer. For example, if an ad for a penicillin medication claims that it can cure certain types of breast cancer, this claim can be objectively disproved without any input from the consumer/reader of that ad. The difficulty lies mainly with the advertisement that contains true, letter-perfect information from a regulatory standpoint, yet still creates a misleading impression.
Planning For Sustainable Livelihoods In Urban Transitional Zones By Incorporating Traditional Community Concepts

The focus of this paper is to outline a sustainable livelihood development paradigm which could assist in addressing the challenges currently faced by the communities in urban transitional areas of South Africa, with specific attention to the contribution that the traditional community environment can make. The reasoning behind the development of such a paradigm is to enrich the sustainable development discourse by exploring place identities, the resilience of community tradition and cultural precepts, particularly in the developing world. This should assist in providing a viable self-reliance livelihood option (especially in urban transitional zones) for communities to survive and thrive in the face of the pressures of urban growth, the deteriorating quality of life and the homogenisation of urban form and design in the developing world. The key concepts, from which this paradigm is developed, are collaborative leadership, community-based systems, the importance of land (environment), economy of affection and agriculture. These concepts are crucial in the current approach to planning, where the relevance of the traditional community environment (predominantly as it applies in Africa) supports the contention that implementation of community-based planning should evolve beyond planning for a community to planning by a community for itself. The proposed outcome of this process is a sustainable livelihood paradigm incorporating traditional community concepts, which supports self-reliant development.
Genotyping of Mycoplasma pneumoniaeClinical Isolates Reveals Eight P1 Subtypes within Two Genomic Groups

ABSTRACT Three methods for genotyping of Mycoplasma pneumoniaeclinical isolates were applied to 2 reference strains and 21 clinical isolates. By a modified restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of PCR products of the M. pneumoniae cytadhesin P1 gene, 5 subtypes were discriminated among 13 P1 type 1 strains and 3 subtypes were discriminated among 8 P1 type 2 strains. Sequence analysis of the 16S-23S rRNA gene spacer region and part of the 23S rRNA gene revealed one nucleotide difference in the intergenic spacer region in 3 of the 21 isolates. In the 23S rRNA gene sequence of the 8 P1 type 2 strains an extra adenosine was present, but it was absent from the 13 P1 type 1 strains. On the basis of M. pneumoniae genome sequence data, primers were designed to amplify large interrepeat fragments by long PCR, and these fragments were subsequently analyzed by RFLP analysis. Only two types, long PCR types 1 and 2, could be discriminated among the M. pneumoniaeisolates. All P1 type 1 strains were assigned to long PCR type 1, and all P1 type 2 strains were assigned to long PCR type 2. These data obtained by three independent typing methods thus confirm the existence of two distinct M. pneumoniae genomic groups but expand the possibility of strain typing on the basis of variations within their P1 genes.
Inflation-produced, large-scale magnetic fields.

We study the production of large-scale (∼ Mpc) magnetic fields in inflationary Universe models. In the usual electromagnetic gauge theory, the photon field is conformally invariant and the magnetic fields that are produced during an inflationary epoch are uninterestingly small. We have considered four models in which the conformal invariance of electromagnetism is broken. The primeval magnetic fields which result can have astrophysically interesting strengths, but are very model-dependent.