Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Strategizing for Corporate Social Responsibility: Wells Fargo Case

This study evaluates Wells Fargo Corporation’s Corporate Social Responsibility strategy. It employs a qualitative methodology using the instrumental case study approach, within which the broad research question is raised: How does the Wells Fargo Corporation strategize for, and implement, corporate social responsibility? Our findings revealed that Wells Fargo has a solid, well-integrated CSR strategy deeply engrained within its culture, skillfully aligned with its capabilities and resources, and that this plan has been executed expertly within the corporation. We will communicate our findings to their leadership team in hopes they continue expansion of their CSR strategies and recommend they consider seeking status as a BCorporation. Author Interview Which professors (if any) have helped you in your research? Dr. Breena Coates What are your research interests? Corporate Social Responsibility What are your plans after earning your degree? What is your ultimate career goal? My plans after earning my degree are to continue my career progression at my current employment. My ultimate career goal is to expand my area of responsibility to the consumer-lending group at Wells Fargo and progress to a role of Senior Vice President in strategic diversity and inclusion. Acknowledgements Professor Breena Coates, PhD Through her passion in teaching about corporate social responsibility and Principles For Responsible Management Education (PRME) Dr. Coates inspired me to pursue conceptual and qualitative research to advance my understanding about how a corporation, such as Wells Fargo is able to create sustainable social, environmental and economic value for our communities. Dr. Coates’ guidance, support and direction have been priceless for the completion of this manuscript.
Prognostic impact of karyotypic findings in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: a Nordic series comparing two treatment periods

The prognostic impact of acquired chromosome abnormalities was evaluated in a population‐based consecutive series of 768 children (< 15 years of age) with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). The study cohort included all cases of cytogenetically abnormal childhood ALL diagnosed between 1986 and 1997 in the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). The probability of event‐free survival (pEFS) for the total cohort was 0·72 ± 0·02. When comparing the two treatment periods of July 1986 to December 1991 and January 1992 to December 1997, a better survival was seen for the latter time period (pEFS of 0·69 ± 0·02 vs. 0·76 ± 0·02, P = 0·05). Hypodiploidy with less than 45 chromosomes, t(9;22)(q34;q11) and 11q23 translocations were associated with a dismal outcome during the whole study period (pEFS of 0·57 ± 0·12, 0·41 ± 0·14 and 0·37 ± 0·10 respectively). The poor prognostic influence of 11q23 rearrangements seemed to be restricted to infants and older children (> 10 years), who differed significantly from children aged 1–10 years in this regard (P < 0·01). Patients with t(9;22)‐positive ALL seemed to benefit from allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in first remission (P = 0·05). The pEFS for children with t(1;19)(q23;p13)‐positive ALL was intermediate (0·63 ± 0·17), with a tendency to a better outcome for patients with the unbalanced variant der(19)t(1;19). Hyperdiploid ALL patients, subdivided into moderate hyperdiploidy (47–51 chromosomes), massive hyperdiploidy (52–60 chromosomes) and cases in the tri‐/tetraploid range (> 60 chromosomes) had the best outcome in the last treatment period (pEFS of 0·81 ± 0·06, 0·80 ± 0·04 and 0·88 ± 0·07 respectively), unless t(1;19), t(8;14), t(9;22) or 11q23 translocations were present. In a multivariate analysis including white blood cell (WBC) count, immunophenotype, age, mediastinal mass, central nervous system involvement and leukaemia karyotype, only WBC and modal chromosome number were shown to be significant independent risk factors (P < 0·01).
: identifying

Background: To examine the delivery of patient-centred care and identify any gaps in care perceived as essential by patients; this study examined outpatients’: 1) views on what characterises essential care and 2) experiences of care received, in relation to cardiac catheterisation and subsequent cardiovascular procedures. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was undertaken. Surveys were posted to outpatients who had undergone elective cardiac catheterisation in the prior six months at an Australian tertiary public hospital. Participants completed a 65-item survey to determine: a) aspects of care they perceive as essential for a healthcare team to provide to patients receiving care for a cardiac condition (Important Care Survey); or b) their actual care received (Actual Care Survey). Numbers and percentages were used to calculate the most frequently identified essential care items by patients; and the experiences of care received. Items rated as either ‘Essential’ or ‘Very important’ by at least 80% of participants were determined, reflecting patient endorsement of the importance of the component of care. A gap in patient-centred care was identified as being any item that was endorsed as essential/very important by 80% or more of participants but reported as received by less than 80% of participants. Results: Of 582 eligible patients, 264 (45%) returned a completed survey. 43/65 items were endorsed by over 80% of participants as essential/very important. Of those, for 22 items, less than 80% of respondents reported the care as received. Gaps were identified in relation to GP consultation (3 items), preparation (4 items), having the procedure (2 items), follow-up care (1 item), subsequent decision making for treatment (4 items), prognosis (6 items) and post-treatment follow-up (1 item).
Three snapshots of business ethics education at South African business schools: Sharp or still blurred?

This article reports on a study comparing three recordings (snapshots) of the provision of business ethics education in MBA curricula at South African business schools. The purpose of the study was to determine whether the occurrence of business ethics education in South African MBA programmes increased between 2003 and 2011 and between 2011 and 2016. A review of the relevant scholarly literature has shown that, although business education can be included in MBA curricula through its integration in the various modules of the programme, or through dedicated modules for business ethics, both these ways of inclusion can be regarded as necessary conditions for meaningful inclusion. This study focused only on the inclusion of dedicated business ethics modules. A directed content analysis was done of reports of the Council on Higher Education as well as MBA and MBL curricula documents of business schools. The comparison of the three snapshots revealed a decline between 2003 and 2011, as well as a further decline between 2011 and 2016 in the number of MBA programmes with a meaningful inclusion of business ethics in their curricula. The results of this study have confirmed that there is cause for concern about the quality of the MBA.
Are financial retirement incentives more effective if pension knowledge is high?

Abstract We study the combined effects of financial incentives and information provision on retirement behavior. To elicit preferences for retirement timing in the laboratory, we ask subjects to make retirement choices under different payoff schemes that introduce variation in financial incentives. Testing ceteris paribus conditions of the financial incentive alone shows a considerable delay of retirement once early retirement becomes financially less attractive. However, varying available information as another treatment parameter reveals considerable heterogeneity in the functioning of these incentives. Subjects who are explicitly informed about the expected pension wealth respond more strongly to financial incentives compared with those who only know their pension annuity. Being informed about a forward-looking measure of pension benefits makes the financial consequences of retirement choices more salient to the decision maker.
Cell Type-Specific Recognition of Human Metapneumoviruses (HMPVs) by Retinoic Acid-Inducible Gene I (RIG-I) and TLR7 and Viral Interference of RIG-I Ligand Recognition by HMPV-B1 Phosphoprotein

Human metapneumoviruses (HMPVs) are recently identified Paramyxoviridae that contribute to respiratory tract infections in children. No effective treatments or vaccines are available. Successful defense against virus infection relies on early detection by germ line-encoded pattern recognition receptors and activation of cytokine and type I IFN genes. Recently, the RNA helicase retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) has been shown to sense HMPV. In this study, we investigated the abilities of two prototype strains of HMPV (A1 [NL\1\00] and B1 [NL\1\99]) to activate RIG-I and induce type I IFNs. Despite the abilities of both HMPV-A1 and HMPV-B1 to infect and replicate in cell lines and primary cells, only the HMPV-A1 strain triggered RIG-I to induce IFNA/B gene transcription. The failure of the HMPV-B1 strain to elicit type I IFN production was dependent on the B1 phosphoprotein, which specifically prevented RIG-I–mediated sensing of HMPV viral 5′ triphosphate RNA. In contrast to most cell types, plasmacytoid dendritic cells displayed a unique ability to sense both HMPV-A1 and HMPV-B1 and in this case sensing was via TLR7 rather than RIG-I. Collectively, these data reveal differential mechanisms of sensing for two closely related viruses, which operate in cell type‑specific manners.
Nonprofit participation in collective impact: A comparative case

Abstract Collective impact represents an increasingly common approach to cross-sector collaboration that relies upon coordinated efforts and shared measurement, yet questions remain as to the role of nonprofits in these partnerships. This case study explores nonprofit participation across two collective impact sites. Findings suggest that nonprofit leaders participate, but the conditions of collective impact partnerships impact their participation. Variations in collective impact conditions limit nonprofit participation as expressed through authority, data and financial resources, and discursive legitimacy.
Comprehensive underwater vehicle-manipulator system teleoperation

In this work, a novel comprehensive scheme for the coordinated control of remotely operated vehicle-manipulator systems (ROVMs) is proposed. In the proposed scheme, instead of commanding the motion of the vehicle and the manipulator separately, a human pilot commands only the manipulator's end-effector motion using a parallel- architectured six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) joystick. The generated reference motion is then converted into a set of desired ROV and manipulator joint motion by means of using a redundancy resolution scheme that provides the means to utilize redundant degrees of freedom to accomplish secondary objectives. The redundancy resolver uses the Gradient Projection Method combined with a Mamdani-based fuzzy determination of the hierarchy of the secondary objectives. The controller relies on a unified dynamic model of the system. The quasi-Lagrange method is used to derive the equations of motion in terms of the ROV body-fixed frame. For the control problem, a sliding-mode based controller is used that contains an adaptive term for the estimation of the upper bound on the lumped uncertainty vector. The hardware-in-the-loop simulation studies illustrate that detailed subsea tasks can be completed with a small, low-cost ROVM system using the proposed ROVM operation scheme.
Heterogeneous Sensor Information Fusion based on Kernel Adaptive Filtering for UAVs' Localization

Due to the low weight of monocular camera, monocular Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) is an area of popular research and promotes countless applications of micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), especially in some GPS-denied indoor environments. Nevertheless, the motion of UAVs is often faster and more complex than that of ground-based robots. It would also lead to error accumulation if we calculate the trajectory only through the ego-motion. For purpose of higher accuracy and lower power cost, the fusion of visual and inertial measurement sensors is presented in UAV's indoor navigation. In this paper, we propose a novel loosely-coupled system to integrate monocular visual odometry (VO) with reading from Inertial navigation system (INS) for UAVs' indoor localization. We acquire the data from Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and VO results individually and map them into a same feature space. The space is defined by the Tensor Product of the individual Kernels for each source. Based on the method of Kernel Adaptive Filtering method-kernel space least mean squares (KLMS), these data are fused in the high-dimensional space. Then, experiments are made to verify this method. Compared with the vision-only algorithms, it can be confirmed that the Kernel Adaptive Filtering method makes some improvements in localization accuracy of UAVs.
α‐ADDUCIN MAY CONTROL BLOOD PRESSURE BOTH IN RATS AND HUMANS

1. Previous studies on the pathogenetic mechanisms of hypertension in the Milan hypertensive strain of rat (MHS) showed that a polymorphism within the α‐adducin gene is responsible for up to 50% of the blood pressure difference between MHS and their MNS normotensive control strain. A case‐control study has shown also in humans an association between α‐adducin locus and hypertension using 4 multiallelic markers surrounding the α‐adducin locus.
Management of Multiple Nitrogen Sources during Wine Fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

ABSTRACT During fermentative growth in natural and industrial environments, Saccharomyces cerevisiae must redistribute the available nitrogen from multiple exogenous sources to amino acids in order to suitably fulfill anabolic requirements. To exhaustively explore the management of this complex resource, we developed an advanced strategy based on the reconciliation of data from a set of stable isotope tracer experiments with labeled nitrogen sources. Thus, quantifying the partitioning of the N compounds through the metabolism network during fermentation, we demonstrated that, contrary to the generally accepted view, only a limited fraction of most of the consumed amino acids is directly incorporated into proteins. Moreover, substantial catabolism of these molecules allows for efficient redistribution of nitrogen, supporting the operative de novo synthesis of proteinogenic amino acids. In contrast, catabolism of consumed amino acids plays a minor role in the formation of volatile compounds. Another important feature is that the α-keto acid precursors required for the de novo syntheses originate mainly from the catabolism of sugars, with a limited contribution from the anabolism of consumed amino acids. This work provides a comprehensive view of the intracellular fate of consumed nitrogen sources and the metabolic origin of proteinogenic amino acids, highlighting a strategy of distribution of metabolic fluxes implemented by yeast as a means of adapting to environments with changing and scarce nitrogen resources. IMPORTANCE A current challenge for the wine industry, in view of the extensive competition in the worldwide market, is to meet consumer expectations regarding the sensory profile of the product while ensuring an efficient fermentation process. Understanding the intracellular fate of the nitrogen sources available in grape juice is essential to the achievement of these objectives, since nitrogen utilization affects both the fermentative activity of yeasts and the formation of flavor compounds. However, little is known about how the metabolism operates when nitrogen is provided as a composite mixture, as in grape must. Here we quantitatively describe the distribution through the yeast metabolic network of the N moieties and C backbones of these nitrogen sources. Knowledge about the management of a complex resource, which is devoted to improvement of the use of the scarce N nutrient for growth, will be useful for better control of the fermentation process and the sensory quality of wines.
Channel complexity reduction in massive MISO using principal component analysis

Massive multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) has the potential to offer a high throughput in today's fast wireless communication systems, however the large number of antennas at the transmitter brings the challenge of high channel complexity and hardware energy consumption. In this paper channel the complexity in massive MISO systems is reduced with a negligible loss of sum-capacity by using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Zero Forcing (ZF) and Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) precoding schemes are used and users are equipped with a single antenna. The results are simulated using MATLAB using the Rayleigh fading channel model. Numerical results verify that, the channel complexity in terms of floating-point operations (FLOPs) has been reduced by more than 80% by using the proposed technique.
A new extrinsic sample mean in the shape space with applications to the boundaries of anatomical structures

Shape analysis is of great importance in many fields of medical imaging and computational biology. In this paper, we consider the shape space as the set of smooth planar immersed curves in R2 (parameterized curves) and, using the property of being isometric to a classical manifold immersed in a Euclidean space, we introduce a new extrinsic sample mean and a new extrinsic variance for a finite set of shapes, which are not necessarily star shaped. This is a fundamental tool in medical image analysis, for instance, to assess uncertainties that arise in locating anatomical structures such as the prostate and the bladder. We apply it to a dataset consisting of parallel planar axial CT sections of human prostate, in order to study the variability between boundaries that have been manually delineated by several observers.
Evaluation of the VITEK 2 System for Identification and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of Medically Relevant Gram-Positive Cocci

ABSTRACT A study was conducted to evaluate the new VITEK 2 system (bioMérieux) for identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing of gram-positive cocci. Clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus (n = 100), coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) (n = 100), Enterococcus spp. (n = 89), Streptococcus agalactiae (n = 29), and Streptococcus pneumoniae (n = 66) were examined with the ID-GPC identification card and with the AST-P515 (for staphylococci), AST-P516 (for enterococci and S. agalactiae) and AST-P506 (for pneumococci) susceptibility cards. The identification comparison methods were the API Staph for staphylococci and the API 20 Strep for streptococci and enterococci; for antimicrobial susceptibility testing, the agar dilution method according to the procedure of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) was used. The VITEK 2 system correctly identified to the species level (only one choice or after simple supplementary tests) 99% of S. aureus, 96.5% of S. agalactiae, 96.9% of S. pneumoniae, 92.7% of Enterococcus faecalis, 91.3% of Staphylococcus haemolyticus, and 88% of Staphylococcus epidermidis but was least able to identify Enterococcus faecium (71.4% correct). More than 90% of gram-positive cocci were identified within 3 h. According to the NCCLS breakpoints, antimicrobial susceptibility testing with the VITEK 2 system gave 96% correct category agreement, 0.82% very major errors, 0.17% major errors, and 2.7% minor errors. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed category agreement from 94 to 100% for S. aureus, from 90 to 100% for CNS, from 91 to 100% for enterococci, from 96 to 100% for S. agalactiae, and from 91 to 100% for S. pneumoniae. Microorganism-antibiotic combinations that gave very major errors were CNS-erythromycin, CNS-oxacillin, enterococci-teicoplanin, and enterococci-high-concentration gentamicin. Major errors were observed for CNS-oxacillin and S. agalactiae-tetracycline combinations. In conclusion the results of this study indicate that the VITEK 2 system represents an accurate and acceptable means for performing identification and antibiotic susceptibility tests with medically relevant gram-positive cocci.
Miniature Printed Octaband Monopole Antenna for Mobile Phones

In this letter, a compact printed monopole antenna with a capacitive feed capable of GSM850/900/DCS/PCS/UMTS/ WiMAX/HIPERLAN2/IEEE 802.11a operation in the mobile phone is presented. The proposed antenna is composed of dual twisted lines, a shorting strip, and a parasitic loop that generate five resonant modes around 900,1800, 2100 3500, and 5400 MHz. The antenna shows a planar structure and occupies a very small size of 15 ×26 mm2 or 3.9 cm2, making it especially suitable for mobile phone application. The antenna is simulated and designed by HFSS and CST to design and analyze the antenna. The measured and simulated results are in excellent agreement. Details of the antenna design are described, and its radiation performances including specific absorption rate (SAR) results are studied as well.
MACROPHAGE MIGRATION INHIBITORY FACTOR (MIF) IN MENINGOCOCCAL SEPTIC SHOCK AND EXPERIMENTAL HUMAN ENDOTOXEMIA

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a mediator of innate immunity and important in the pathogenesis of septic shock. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) &agr; are reported to be inducers of MIF. We studied MIF and cytokines in vivo in patients with meningococcal disease, in human experimental endotoxemia, and in whole blood cultures using a newly developed sensitive and specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Twenty patients with meningococcal disease were investigated. For the human endotoxemia model, 8 healthy volunteers were intravenously injected with 2 ng/kg Escherichia coli LPS. Whole blood from healthy volunteers was incubated with LPS or heat-killed meningococci. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor concentration in blood was increased during meningococcal disease and highest in the patients presenting with shock compared with patients without shock. Plasma concentration of MIF correlated with disease severity, the presence of shock and with the cytokines interleukin (IL) 1&bgr;, IL-10, IL-12, and vascular endothelial growth factor, but not with TNF-&agr;. MIF was not detected in blood in experimental endotoxemia, nor after stimulation of whole blood with LPS or meningococci, although high levels of TNF-&agr; were seen in both models. In conclusion, MIF is increased in patients with meningococcal disease and highest in the presence of shock. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor cannot be detected in a human endotoxemia model and is not produced by whole blood cells incubated with LPS or meningococci.
Research at the Marketing Interface to Advance Entrepreneurship Theory

The knowledge base for the emerging field of entrepreneurship should be interfunctional and interdisciplinary. Yet the functional discipline of marketing has contributed to the entrepreneurship field in only recent years. And entrepreneurship researchers and writers often address marketing superficially, without an awareness of sophisticated marketing concepts and methods. The objectives of this article are to identify key tangencies at the marketing/entrepreneurship interface, to provide relevant research sources, and to selectively convey illustrative marketing knowledge. Because length constraints prevent In-depth attention to any subject, breadth over depth is our objective. There are three major sections in this paper. First, the marketing/entrepreneurship interface is defined, with attention to various schools of marketing thought and their potential value to the entrepreneurship field. Secondly, unique tangencies with the buyer behavior literature are discussed and venture ideas and their evaluation (product research) are highlighted. Finally, the marketing strategy literature is reviewed as it potentially contributes to new venture development. In addition, other Important interfaces are briefly discussed.