Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Simultaneous determination of aminoglycoside antibiotics in feeds using high performance liquid chromatography with evaporative light scattering detection

A sensitive, rapid and reproducible method has been developed based on high performance liquid chromatography with evaporative light scattering detection (HPLC-ELSD) for the simultaneous detection of ten aminoglycoside antibiotics including apramycin, neomycin, amikacin, and gentamicin. The influence of parameters of ELSD on the responses of aminoglycosides was investigated in detail. The target analytes were separated well on a Hypersil BDS C18 column based on ion-pair chromatography. The proposed method was applied to the determination of eight drugs in various animal feeds. Calibration curves of eight aminoglycosides were linear (r ≥ 0.997) within the range of 2.00–200 μg mL−1. The recoveries of eight aminoglycosides from 5 types of animal feeds ranged from 61.2% to 104.0% and the intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations were less than 15%. The limits of detection of the eight aminoglycoside drugs were between 0.2 and 0.7 mg kg−1.
Injectable poly(organophosphazene) hydrogel system for effective paclitaxel and doxorubicin combination therapy

Abstract Combination therapy is an important option for gastric cancer which is the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The administration schedule of cell cycle-specific drugs, such as doxorubicin (DOX) and paclitaxel (PTX), is important for therapeutic efficacy. However, to control the schedule is clinically inconvenient. Additionally, in vitro cytotoxicity tests against human gastric cancer cells (SNU-601) showed that the combination indices (CIs) of DOX and PTX were 1.43 (α = 0) and 1.90 (α = 1), respectively, indicating that the DOX and PTX interaction was antagonistic. Thus, based on the finding that the release rate of drugs from poly(organophosphazene) (PPZ) hydrogel is dependent on the hydrophobicity of the drugs, we used injectable PPZ hydrogel in combination therapy. In vivo anticancer activity test in human gastric cancer cell-xenografted mice showed that intratumoral injection with aqueous PPZ solution, containing DOX (15 mg/kg) and PTX (30 mg/kg), resulted in the highest tumor inhibition and safety (no mortality for approximately 3 months) in the experimental groups. Consequently, PPZ hydrogel is expected to be a promising drug delivery system for cell cycle-specific drugs, facilitating the control of their administration schedule for effective combination therapy.
Learning and Wage Dynamics

We develop a dynamic model of learning and wage determination: education may convey initial information about ability, but subsequent performance observations also are informative. Although the role of schooling in the labor market's inference process declines as performance observations accumulate, the estimated effect of schooling on the level of wages is independent of labor-market experience. In addition: time-invariant variables correlated with ability but unobserved by employers are increasingly correlated with wages as experience increases; wage residuals are a martingale; and wage cuts -are not rare, even for workers who do not change jobs. We present evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth that is generally consistent with all four of the model's predictions. We conclude that a blend of the learning model with an on-the-job-training model is more plausible than either model alone.
A new isolated multi-port converter using interleaving and magnetic coupling inductor technologies

This paper proposes a new multi-port converter with interleaved magnetic coupling technologies. With the focus on the impedance behavior of coupled magnetic components and the control parameters, this multi-port converter integrates one isolated dc-dc converter and two multi-phase boost converters, and controls these topologies independently. The proposed converter has the capability to connect four dc applications or sources in total, and so brings significant cost reduction and improves the total loss consumption of power systems. In addition, magnetic isolation brings high reliability of complex power systems such as electric vehicles or grid-connected industries. In this paper, the basic circuit behavior is verified by theoretical considerations and experiments. An example of the proposed circuit as a multifunctional dc power system is demonstrated with the simulation results. Such an approach could bring about variable application fields to dc electric power systems.
Enhancing the effectiveness of the balanced scorecard with scenario planning

Purpose - This paper aims to propose the idea of linking the use of the balanced scorecard with scenario planning. Scenario planning emphasizes the development of a strategic plan that is robust across different scenarios. This ensures that the strategy implemented using the balanced scorecard is linked to external conditions and takes into consideration the expected changes in the environment. Design/methodology/approach - This paper examines the criticisms of the balanced scorecard and proposes the use of scenario planning as a way of overcoming some of these limitations. Findings - It argues that the use of scenario planning is capable of overcoming the lack of external orientation in the balanced scorecard. Scenario planning also helps make the balanced scorecard more reflective of changes that may appear in the future. This ensures that the scorecard developed is not merely a linear extension from the present. Research limitations/implications - Studies need to be undertaken to examine whether integrating scenario planning with the balanced scorecard leads to more effective strategy implementation. Practical implications - Adopters of the balanced scorecard need to recognize that developing a balanced scorecard system needs to be preceded by a strategy formulation process that incorporates an understanding of how future events may evolve. This can be achieved using scenario planning. Originality/value - This study is probably the first attempt to link the implementation of the balanced scorecard and scenario planning.
Factors Affecting Price Earnings Ratios and Market Values of Japanese Firms

This paper investigates cross-sectional explanations of Japanese PE ratios by focusing on two dependent variables, the percentage change in the PE ratio (PE) and the percentage change in the market value of equity (MV). Results of this study suggest that changes in the value of hidden assets such as land, changes in the patterns of ownership by Japanese individuals, and foreign investors, changes in expected earnings growth and earnings risk, and changes in dividends per share and dividend payout are significantly related to changes in PE ratios and market values. Our results, therefore, support the contention of French and Poterba that changes in land values appear to explain at least a portion of changes in Japanese PE ratios.
Robust informational tests on the CAPM

The paper demonstrates the existence of an independent informational content in the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) that financial analysts are not fully utilizing in their forecast-generating mechanism. This existence is discovered by regressing actual values of five-year firm earnings growth against financial analysts ex-ante forecasts and simulated ex-ante forecasts generated by the CAPM. Regressions are run over a cross-section of firms for each of four adjacent five-year horizons: January 1982–1987; 1983–1988; 1984–1989; 1985–1990. In three out of four test periods, the coefficient of the CAPM forecasts is significantly positive. This is essentially the same experiment with the same results as obtained previously, with one exception: a diagnostic analysis and corrective procedures are performed and results are generated that are heteroscedasticity-robust.
Transmission Mechanism of Monetary Policy in Pakistan

This paper uses vector autoregressions to examine the monetary transmission mechanism in Pakistan. The results point to a transmission mechanism in which banks play an important role. A monetary tightening leads to a fall in domestic demand, primarily investment demand financed by bank lending, which translates into a gradual reduction in price pressures that eventually reduces the overall price level with a significant lag. We also find an active asset price channel. The exchange rate channel is less significant by comparison.
Active airborne noise control of hard disk drive

With the increase of rotation speed of hard disk drives, vibration and acoustics specifications are often required by customers. The airborne (windage) noise, which is the dominant noise source for fluid dynamic bearing and high RPM applications, is transmitted through the cover. Thus, the vibration and acoustics performance of HDD are closely related to the properties of HDD covers. In this paper, in order to control the noise of the cover, collocated piezoelectric actuators and sensors are adopted and mounted on the cover. Two dimensional dynamic finite element formulations coupling with the effect of pressure in the cavity are derived using the first order shear deformation theory for the disk cover in addition to the mechanical-electro coupled variation equation. Numerical results show that airborne noise of the cover can be reduced through active control of the actuator.
Some Methodological Issues on Estimating Foreign Exchange Exposure of US Multinational Firms: Evidence from the Asian Crisis

Abstract This article asks whether sample specification of firm, period, and exchange rate matters in estimating foreign exchange exposure of US multinational firms. By sampling US firms that had Asian sales and assets from 1996 to 1998, we find that the firms’ returns are more likely to be significantly exposed to the Asian-oriented exchange rate changes for the Asian crisis, when the exchange rate changes were unexpectedly sizable. Also, by examining firms’ exposure in the share of Asian sales and assets, we find that the firms are more exposed as their operations are more involved in the Asian region.
Forecasting Government Bond Yields with Neural Networks Considering Cointegration

This paper discusses techniques that might be helpful in predicting interest rates and tries to evaluate a new hybrid forecasting approach. Results of examining government bond yields in Germany and France reported in this study indicate that a hybrid forecasting approach which combines techniques of cointegration analysis with neural network (NN) forecasting models can produce superior results to the use of NN forecasting models alone. The findings documented in this paper could be a consequence of the fact that examining differenced data under certain conditions will lead to a loss of information and that the inclusion of the error correction term from the cointegration model can help to cope with this problem. The paper also discusses some possibly interesting directions for further research. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Model-based optimal auto-transition and control synthesis for tail-sitter UAV KH-Lion

This paper presents a systematic control synthesis method in order to achieve auto-transition for KH-Lion, a tail-sitter hybrid UAV. Although there are huge potentials in various applications of the hybrid tail-sitter UAVs, the transition between vertical take-off and landing mode and cruise mode is still a challenge now. Due to the complex behaviour that the transition can generate, it is very difficult to implement the auto-transition as the reference transition trajectory is hard to obtain. In this paper, we propose to use the model validated from the experiments to generate an optimal reference trajectory for transition. A constrained dynamic programming technique is applied to the model with the consideration of all necessary constraints. A feedback control algorithm is also designed to track the desired transition trajectory. Simulation result and successful flight experiments have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed synthesis method.
Spirituality and spiritual caring: nurses' perspectives and practice in palliative and acute care environments.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Identify and compare spiritual caring practice by palliative care and acute care registered nurses (RNs), determine any correlation between nurses' spiritual perspective and their spiritual caring, and to investigate perceived barriers to spiritual caring. BACKGROUND Over the past decade there has been growing interest in spiritual caring in nursing. Professional nursing bodies have proposed spirituality and spiritual caring as an integral component of holistic nursing. DESIGN Cross sectional study. METHODS Palliative care RNs (n = 42) from one community palliative care service and three hospices, and acute care RNs (n = 50) from three major acute care hospitals all in metropolitan Sydney, Australia completed a research questionnaire. Two validated tools and a demographic survey were used to collect data. These tools measured spiritual perspectives including saliency of personal spirituality, spiritual views and engagement in spiritually-related activities; and spiritual practice including assessment, interventions and barriers to spiritual caring. Data were collected over a six-month period and interpreted with both descriptive and analytical statistics. RESULTS Significant differences were seen between the two RN groups. Palliative care RNs' spiritual caring practice was more advanced and their spiritual perspective stronger; this relationship was positive. Both RN groups identified 'insufficient time' as the most common barrier to spiritual caring practice; 'patient privacy' was also common for acute care RNs. CONCLUSIONS Palliative care RNs' spiritual perspectives influenced their spiritual caring. These nurses were older and more career-advanced than the acute care RNs, which may explain the differences observed. Acute care RNs may benefit from additional support for their spiritual caring and to address perceived barriers. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE The development of nurses' spiritual perspective early in their preparation for practice, and the articulation and documentation of spiritual caring may enhance their spiritual caring practice. Further research on barriers to spiritual caring in acute care nursing environments is recommended.
Design and experimental verification of DC-DC autotransformer prototype

It is a necessity to use DC-DC transformers when interconnecting two DC systems with different voltages levels. This article designs the prototype of bidirectional DC-DC autotransformer (DC AUTO) and voltage step-up unidirectional DC AUTO (UUDAT). The article firstly illustrates the electrical primary system in experimental prototype, then studies its control strategy and the corresponding control system framework. Finally, the article analyses the operating characteristics of the prototype. The experimental results manifest that the bidirectional DC-AUTO transformer and the UUDAT are all capable of transmitting DC power as required. Taking interconnecting two DC systems with voltage level of 375V and 750V as instance, the capacity of the converter using DC AUTO technology will only be 50% of the capacity using conventional DC/AC/DC technology. The theoretical deductions and the experimental results have all demonstrated that DC AUTO technology will not only ensure low building cost but also lead to low transmission loss.
PERSPECTIVE: PURGING THE GENETIC LOAD: A REVIEW OF THE EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE

Abstract Inbreeding depression, the reduction in fitness that accompanies inbreeding, is one of the most important topics of research in evolutionary and conservation genetics. In the recent literature, much attention has been paid to the possibility of purging the genetic load. If inbreeding depression is due to deleterious alleles, whose effect on fitness are negative when in a homozygous state, then successive generations of inbreeding may result in a rebound in fitness due to the selective decrease in frequency of deleterious alleles. Here we examine the experimental evidence for purging of the genetic load by collating empirical tests of rebounds in fitness-related traits with inbreeding in animals and plants. We gathered data from 28 studies including five mammal, three insect, one mollusc, and 13 plant species. We tested for purging by examining three measures of fitness-component variation with serial generations of inbreeding: (1) changes in inbreeding depression, (2) changes in fitness components of inbred lines relative to the original outbred line, and (3) purged population (outcrossed inbred lines) trait means as a function of ancestral outbred trait means. Frequent and substantial purging was found using all three measures, but was particularly pronounced when tracking changes in inbreeding depression. Despite this, we found little correspondence between the three measures of purging within individual studies, indicating that the manner in which a researcher chooses to estimate purging will affect interpretation of the results obtained. The discrepancy suggests an alternative hypothesis: rebounds in fitness with inbreeding may have resulted from adaptation to laboratory conditions and not to purging when using outcrossed inbred lines. However, the pronounced reduction in inbreeding depression for a number of studies provides evidence for purging, as the measure is likely less affected by selection for laboratory conditions. Unlike other taxon-specific reviews on this topic, our results provide support for the purging hypothesis, but firm predictions about the situations in which purging is likely or the magnitude of fitness rebound possible when populations are inbred remain difficult. Further research is required to resolve the discrepancy between the results obtained using different experimental approaches.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEBT LEVEL AND FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY IN ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT COUNTRIES

type="main" xml:id="ecin12126-abs-0001"> In this article we unify the traditional approaches to testing for fiscal sustainability considering the stock-flow system that fiscal variables configure. Our approach encompasses previous ways of testing for sustainability. The results obtained for a group of 17 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries point to weak fiscal sustainability, as well as to the existence of cointegration between deficit and debt, confirming the relevance of the stock-flow approach. Allowing for structural breaks and multicointegration turns out to be of critical importance to assess whether the fiscal authorities apply their policies looking for sustainability and whether, simultaneously, they try to stabilize real debt target levels. (JEL H62, E62, C22)
Exports, export composition and growth

The relationship between trade and growth has been central to development economics with particular emphasis on the export-growth dynamic. The current paper is in the tradition of this literature but develops two new strands. First, it examines the exports-growth link in a dynamic fashion, providing a more rigorous approach than has been attempted previously. Second it explores the role of export composition in determining growth performance. By constructing a panel of 69 countries and using the dynamic model, the results generated suggest that there is a strong positive relationship between exports and growth. Further, it is apparent that the composition of those exports is important in determining the strength of growth.
Lower Extremity Extension Force and Electromyography Properties as a Function of Knee Angle and Their Relation to Joint Torques: Implications for Strength Diagnostics

Hahn, D. Lower extremity extension force and electromyography properties as a function of knee angle and their relation to joint torques: implications for strength diagnostics. J Strength Cond Res 25(6): 1622-1631, 2011—The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether and how isometric multijoint leg extension strength can be used to assess athletes' muscular capability within the scope of strength diagnosis. External reaction forces (Fext) and kinematics were measured (n = 18) during maximal isometric contractions in a seated leg press at 8 distinct joint angle configurations ranging from 30 to 100° knee flexion. In addition, muscle activation of rectus femoris, vastus medialis, biceps femoris c.l. , gastrocnemius medialis, and tibialis anterior was obtained using surface electromyography (EMG). Joint torques for hip, knee, and ankle joints were computed by inverse dynamics. The results showed that unilateral Fext decreased significantly from 3,369 ± 575 N at 30° knee flexion to 1,015 ± 152 N at 100° knee flexion. Despite maximum voluntary effort, excitation of all muscles as measured by EMG root mean square changed with knee flexion angles. Moreover, correlations showed that above-average Fext at low knee flexion is not necessarily associated with above-average Fext at great knee flexion and vice versa. Similarly, it is not possible to deduce high joint torques from high Fext just as above-average joint torques in 1 joint do not signify above-average torques in another joint. From these findings, it is concluded that an evaluation of muscular capability by means of Fext as measured for multijoint leg extension is strongly limited. As practical recommendation, we suggest analyzing multijoint leg extension strength at 3 distinct knee flexion angles or at discipline-specific joint angles. In addition, a careful evaluation of muscular capacity based on measured Fext can be done for knee flexion angles ≥80°. For further and detailed analysis of single muscle groups, the use of inverse dynamic modeling is recommended.
Low phase noise frequency- and full 360° phase-tunable microwave generation based on an optoelectronic oscillator

Frequency and full 360° phase tunable microwave signal generation based on an optoelectronic oscillator is experimentally demonstrated. Frequency tunable 8–24 GHz and full 360° phase shift are obtained. The single-sideband phase noise of the generated microwave signal is measured to be −122 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset.
Expression of NADPH‐diaphorase and nitric oxide synthase in lumbosacral motoneurons after knee joint immobilisation in the guinea pig

The expression of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate‐diaphorase (NADPH‐d) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in spinal ventral horn neurons was studied in the guinea pig after right knee joint immobilisation (RKJI). At 1 wk after RKJI, neurons in the ipsilateral ventral horn from L4 to S1 segments showed a moderate reactivity for NADPH‐d staining. At 2 wk, NADPH‐d labelled neurons were also observed in the contralateral ventral horn. Ipsilateral NOS immunoreactive cells were not detectable until wk 2. The intensity of NADPH‐d and NOS labelled neurons in the bilateral ventral horns was sustained, peaking at the 4th wk after RKJI. In guinea pigs subjected to 4 wk of RKJI and subsequently released from the immobilisation for 2 and 4 wk, NADPH‐d and NOS reactivity in ventral horn neurons diminished. The expression of NADPH‐d positive neurons differed from that of NOS labelled neurons in terms of time interval, cell number and staining intensity, the latter being later, fewer and weaker. It is suggested that the induction and upregulation of NADPH‐d and NOS are attributable to reduced activity of muscles acting on the knee joint after RKJI; the changes are reversible. It is speculated that increased levels of NO production are involved in protective mechanisms against possible neuronal degeneration as a consequence of target dysfunction.