Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pyoverdin‐facilitated iron uptake in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: immunological characterization of the ferripyoverdin receptor

A purified polyclonal antiserum directed against the isolated main 80kD IROMP (iron‐regulated outer‐membrane protein) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 detected only the 80 kD polypeptide of outer‐membrane proteins from PAO1 cells grown in iron deficiency in Western blots. It was also shown to inhibit the uptake of 59Fe pyoverdin by PAO1 cells as well as its binding to purified outer membranes. Immunofluorescence experiments with intact PAO1 cells confirmed that the receptor is present only at the surface of cells grown under conditions of iron deficiency. All these data allow us to conclude that the 80 kD main IROMP of P. aeruginosa is indeed the receptor for the siderophore ferripyoverdin.
Checked coverage: an indicator for oracle quality

A known problem of traditional coverage metrics is that they do not assess oracle quality—that is, whether the computation result is actually checked against expectations. In this paper, we introduce the concept of checked coverage—the dynamic slice of covered statements that actually influence an oracle. Our experiments on seven open‐source projects show that checked coverage is a sure indicator for oracle quality and even more sensitive than mutation testing. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Comparison of 3D tissue motion estimation methods using transverse oscillations

Strain and strain rate imaging can serve as noninvasive tools for quantitative assessment of regional myocardial contractility. Because of the 3D nature of cardiac motion, a 3D motion estimation scheme must be applied in order to be able to measure the full myocardial. Several method has been proposed to estimated the 3D velocity vectors field, such as 3D speckle tracking and 3D Transverse Oscillation. In this proceeding, four motion estimation methods aimed at estimating the motion of cardiac tissue have been explored. Three of the estimators work in the frequency domain and use transverse oscillations to estimate the motion, while the fourth estimator uses the block matching technique of speckle tracking. The transverse oscillations are introduced by applying three different filtering schemes. Two of these filtering schemes are based on previous work and publications, while the third is a novel approach. The four motion estimators were applied to experimental phantom data showing 3D circular motion. In addition, the estimators were tested on an in vivo example of the motion of a human heart.
Voluntary Non-Financial Reporting: The Role of Strategic and Operational Controls

This research looks internally to investigate the role of both strategic and operational controls in motivating the broadness of the organization’s accountability definition and in turn its willingness to provide voluntary disclosure on environmental, social, and governance issues. The premise of this research is that the existence of internal controls within the organization provides a higher degree of confidence in the integrity of the voluntary non-financial disclosures to ward off any disclosure risk that might occur from revealing poor performance results. Strategic control evolves from the structure and characteristics of the board of directors. The board’s direction then cultivates operational controls through an environmental management system. Using archival data, we study the existence of two board characteristics (independent directors and CEO/Chair duality) and three components of an organization’s environmental management system (policy, training, and assurance). All, except CEO/Chair duality, are significantly related to the organization’s voluntary non-financial disclosure score, predicting over 50 percent of the variance in the disclosure score (R squared of .509). Our findings show that various levels of control provide additional insights into the voluntary disclosure decision.
Motion uncertainty deblurring in motion corrected reconstruction for μPET brain imaging of awake rats

The implementation and improvement of the spatial resolution of the reconstructions of a motion correction method for unconstrained and unanesthetized rats is presented for a small bore (16 cm diameter) Siemens Inveon microPET scanner. The motion scans are corrected using the LOR rebinning technique. After correction, the images still suffer from loss of spatial resolution compared to motion-free scans. We propose to improve the spatial resolution after motion correction by using a motion dependent and spatially variant kernel applied to the reconstruction using 3D deconvolution in the image space. The resolution kernel is calculated using the motion data. The method is applied in a microDerenzo phantom and an in vivo experiment. In the phantom experiment the resolution loss, compared to the motion-free scan that was observed in the motion corrected scan, was reduced by the proposed additional deconvolution. Moreover, the final image resolution was independent of the motion when using the motion dependent deconvolution.
Reevaluating the effect of Brefeldin A (BFA) on ganglioside synthesis: the location of GM2 synthase cannot be deduced from the inhibition of GM2 synthesis by BFA

Abstract Brefeldin A reversibly disassembles the Golgi complex, causing mixing of the Golgi cisternae with the ER while the trans Golgi network persists as part of a separate endosomal membrane system. Because of this compartmental separation, Brefeldin A treatment has been used to map the sub-Golgi locations of several Golgi enzymes including GM2 synthase. We previously proposed that GM2 synthase might be located in a distal portion of the Golgi complex which in the presence of Brefeldin A would be separated from the substrate ganglioside GM3 present in the mixed ER-Golgi membrane system. In the present study we show using GM2 synthase chimeras that GM2 synthesis was blocked by Brefeldin A when GM2 synthase was distributed throughout all Golgi subcompartments or even when it was restricted to the medial Golgi. Because these findings opposed our speculation regarding a distal location of this enzyme, we sought an alternative explanation for the inhibition of ganglioside synthesis by Brefeldin A. However, Brefeldin A did not degrade GM2 synthase, prevent its homodimerization, or inhibit its in vitro activity. Brefeldin A did result in the conversion of a portion of membrane bound GM2 synthase into a soluble form which has minimal capability to produce GM2 in whole cells. However, this conversion was not sufficient to explain the nearly total loss of GM2 production in intact cells in the presence of Brefeldin A. Nevertheless, the results of this study indicate that Brefeldin A-induced inhibition of ganglioside synthesis cannot be used to deduce the location of GM2 synthase.
Analysis and Comparison of Leveraged ETFs and CPPI-Type Leveraged Strategy

Among leveraged funds, leveraged ETFs are designed to achieve multiple exposure (e.g., twice) to some financial index returns, on a daily basis. In this paper, we provide and analyze various properties of the value process of a leveraged ETF. We examine its main statistical properties and point out that there is some probability that the stock index price increases while, at the same time, the leveraged fund decreases. This is an event that is difficult to accept for an investor in such a fund. In the continuous-time framework, we prove an equivalence result stating that a leveraged ETF can also be viewed as a CPPI fund with a floor proportional to the portfolio value itself. Next, from a more practical point of view, we compare Leveraged ETFs and Leveraged CPPI having a specific variable leverage. This type of Leveraged CPPI portfolio is not fully equivalent to a Leveraged ETF because the leverage is reduced in falling markets as well as bounded from above. We derive a quasi explicit expression for the value of such Leveraged CPPI. Then, using Monte Carlo simulations, we compare the Leveraged ETFs and Leveraged CPPI return distributions by means of their moments as well as by relying on Omega and Kappa performance measures.
An investigation of marketing problems across service typologies

Focuses on the commonly cited marketing problems that arise from the special characteristics of services. Empirically tests for the differing impact of these problems among service organizations, by assessing marketing managers’ perceptions about the problems that their organizations face. Results suggest that managers from three main service typologies (based on Silvestro et al’s 1992 classification scheme) do perceive differences in the degree of impact the problems have on their organizations. The findings and their strategic implications for marketing managers are discussed, along with limitations and future areas of research.
Laser tissue welding in ophthalmic surgery

Laser welding of ocular tissues is an alternative technique or adjunct to conventional suturing in ophthalmic surgery. It is based on the photothermal interaction of laser light with the main components of the extracellular matrix of connective tissues. The advantages of the welding procedure with respect to standard suturing and stapling are reduced operation times, lesser inflammation, faster healing and increased ability to induce tissue regeneration. The procedure we set up is based on the use of an infrared diode laser in association with the topical application of the chromophore Indocyanine Green. Laser light may be delivered either continuously or in pulses, thus identifying two different techniques that have been applied clinically in various types of transplants of the cornea. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
The Relationship between Environmental Social Governance Factors and Stock Returns

The focus by investment practitioners on the impacts of non-traditional environmental and governance issues has intensified in recent times as a result of global events. This paper examines the relationship between environmental social governance (ESG) factors and financial performance of US listed companies by considering not only impacts on stock return but also stock valuation and operating performance. Using a multifactor framework, this study provides evidence of a significant positive relationship between particular ESG rating criteria and both return on assets and market to book value measures, supporting the stakeholder theory that Corporate Social Performance (CSP) is positive for Corporate Financial Performance (CFP). Analysis also shows that employment conditions are a more relevant influence than other stakeholder criteria and a company’s involvement in more general non-stakeholder related social issues contributes negatively to both operating performance and stock return.
Effects of rinsing on residue level of chlorpyrifos ethyl, acetamiprid and penconazole in grapes

Effects of various rinsing conditions were investigated to remove residues of three pesticides including chlorpyrifos ethyl, acetamiprid and penconazole from grapes. The rinsing conditions included five different temperatures of rinsing water, three different fruit-to-water ratios and three different dipping times. The residue levels of all three pesticides decreased with decreasing the rinsing water temperature while in most cases, 10, 20 and 30 °C produced lower pesticide residue values when compared to 40 and 50 °C within each of combined treatments. In addition, 4 minutes of dipping time was not as effective as 2 and 3 minutes dipping times to eliminate chlorpyrifos ethyl residue from grape samples at all temperatures.
A Conceptual Understanding of Employability: The Employers' View in Rwanda

Many governments believe that investing in human capital should increase citizens' employability, which is why it is often presented as a solution to the problems of knowledge-based economies and societies, rising unemployment rates and economic competiveness. The aim of this study is to understand employers' views regarding the employability of graduates from higher education programmes in Rwanda. Employers of graduates in the programmes of Accounting, Agriculture, Education and Medicine were interviewed to obtain a broad understanding of their views. The key themes that emerged from the thematic analysis were professional skills, becoming changeable/formable and skilful practices. This study argues that the concept of employability needs to be viewed as contextual because understanding the professional and national contexts is fundamental to achieving a better understanding of graduates' employability.
The Disclosure of Non-GAAP Earnings Information in the Presence of Transitory Gains

ABSTRACT: We examine the disclosure of non-GAAP earnings information in quarters containing transitory gains to investigate whether the primary motivation for these managers to disclose non-GAAP earnings is to inform or mislead. In this setting, non-GAAP earnings are more informative than GAAP earnings, even though they are lower than GAAP earnings. Thus, managers motivated to inform stakeholders about sustainable earnings will disclose non-GAAP earnings information excluding the gain, whereas managers motivated to report higher earnings will obscure the transitory nature of the gain by focusing on GAAP earnings. We find evidence that managers' disclosure choices vary widely across firms, and these choices affect investors' perceptions of core operating earnings. We then contrast how the same firm discloses non-GAAP earnings in the presence of transitory losses to provide additional evidence on the motives of individual firms' disclosures. We conclude that the most pervasive motivation to disclose non-GAA.
Posterior parietal cortex control of reach‐to‐grasp movements in humans

The aim of the present study was to ascertain the neural correlates for the integration of visual information with the control of the reach‐to‐grasp action in the healthy human brain. Nine adult subjects (18–38 years; four females and five males) were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging while reaching‐to‐grasp a three‐dimensional target. Results demonstrated differential activation of the parietal cortices according to the number of potential targets to be taken into account before movement initiation and the variability of target location. Comparing conditions where a target object that can appear at an unpredictable location with conditions where the target object appears at a predictable location revealed activations in the left superior parietal lobule, the left parieto‐occipital sulcus and the right intraparietal sulcus. Results are discussed in terms of visual selective attention and action planning.
Values and eco‐ and fair‐trade labelled products

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to study whether preference for a product increased, or decreased, as a consequence of information that the product was either eco‐ or fair trade labelled. An additional purpose was to investigate associations between importance attached to values and preference for eco‐ and fair‐trade labelled food products.Design/methodology/approach – Effects of information that orange juice was either eco‐ or fair trade labelled were studied in an experimental setting, with a sample of Swedish students. Importance attached to values was measured with the list of values (LOV) scale. Taste preference was the evaluated aspect.Findings – No significant effects of the experimental manipulation were observed. Attaching greater importance to the value “warm relationships with others” was associated with a more favourable rating of the taste of both eco‐ and fair‐trade labelled juices. The value “security” was positively associated with an increased taste preference for the group expos.
Perceptions on Urbanization Impact on the Hinterlands: A Study of Khon Kaen City, Thailand

This research article aims to study the impact of urbanization on its hinterlands, by focusing on the perceptions of the household heads in the hinterlands of a small city, which is the major type of the cities in the Mekong region. Khon Kaen city in the northeast region of Thailand was selected as a case study. A questionnaire survey was conducted with a sample of 409 households in 35 villages in the city’s hinterlands, defined as the areas of 5 kilometres lying further from a ring road surrounding the city. Data were analysed by descriptive statistics and mean ranking. The research found that the top ten most favorable impacts were on better access to health and educational services, better employment and educational opportunities, women’s decision making power and social status, as well as positive impact on local government. As for the negative impacts of urbanization, pre-marriage sexual relationship, co-habitation and inappropriate dressing of village youths were identified as major problems. Apart from youth’s problems, other social problems namely gambling and drug addiction were identified, as well as household economic problems including shortage of farm lands, higher household expenditure and debts. Among the top ten highest ranks of negative impacts, only one environmental problem, namely noise pollution, was identified. However, it is remarkable that environmental sector contained the highest numbers of unfavorable impacts that had mean value less than three. In other words, among the seven sectors explored, namely the household economy, the village economy, the society, the political and administration, the ideology and culture, the women and youths and the environment, the research found that environmental sector got the highest number of negative items of urbanization impacts. Based on a Multiple Regression Analysis, the research found that household heads’ age (Beta = 0.127) and monthly income (Beta = -0.175) were the factors that influenced their perceptions on the impacts with the R 2 = 0.073.
Linking Distress of Financial Institutions to Macrofinancial Shocks

This paper links granular data of financial institutions to global macroeconomic variables using an infinite-dimensional vector autoregressive (IVAR) model framework. This framework is used to assess the impact of foreign macroeconomic shocks on default risks of euro area financial firms. In addition, the macroeconomic impact of firm-specific shocks is investigated. The approach taken nests a global VAR (GVAR) model, which allows an assessment of the two-way links between the financial system and the macroeconomy, while accounting for heterogeneity among financial institutions and the role of international linkages in the transmission of shocks. The model is estimated using macroeconomic data for 21 countries and default probability estimates for 35 euro area financial institutions. Overall, the results show that accounting for heterogeneity among firms is important for investigating the transmisson of shocks through the financial system. The model also captures the important role of international linkages, showing that macroeconomic shocks scaled to those observed following the Lehman bankruptcy generate a rise in firm-level default probabilities that is close to those observed during this time period. By linking a firm-level framework to a global model, the IVAR approach provides promising avenues for developing macro-prudential tools that can explicitly model spillover effects among a potentially large group of firms, while accounting for the two-way linkages between the financial sector and the macroeconomy, which were key transmission channels during the recent financial crisis.
Eugenol, a plant-derived phenolic nutraceutical, protects thiol (SH) group in myocardium from ROS-mediated oxidation under chemotherapeutic stress induced by arsenic trioxide – a in vivo model study

Abstract Arsenic trioxide is an effective chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia. The clinical usefulness of arsenic trioxide is narrow due to different organ toxicities. It is hypothesized that the generation of reactive oxygen species by arsenic trioxide leads to thiol-based oxidative damage in rat myocardium. In this study, the defensive effect of eugenol on thiol-based oxidative stress was investigated in arsenic trioxide-treated rats. Rats were orally administered with arsenic trioxide (4 mg/kg per day) alone and in combination with eugenol (5 mg/kg per day) for 30 days. Reduction in relative organ weight, total thiol level, protein thiol content, acid-soluble thiol content, thioredoxin activity, and protein content was witnessed in arsenic trioxide-treated rats. Additionally, the total antioxidant activity, tissue GSH level, and GSH/GSSG ratio were considerably diminished. However, the co-treatment of eugenol noticeably sheltered the arsenic trioxide-mediated cardiotoxicity. In conclusion, eugenol is a prospective phenolic compound, of natural origin, for protecting the thiol group in myocardium from oxidative stress by chemotherapeutic compounds.
CHRONIC EFFECTS OF DI (2-ETHYLHEXYL) PHTHALATE ON STEREOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF TESTIS IN ADULT WISTAR RATS

Objective(s) In recent years concerns have been raised regarding the incidence of male reproductive disorders from exposure to endocrine disruptors. So, chronic effects of di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate were studied on histological and stereological structure of testis in adult Wistar rats. Materials and Methods Thirty two adult Wistar rats were randomly divided in four equal experiment groups; oil vehicle group and three treated groups which received 10, 100 and 500 mg/kg/day di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate by gavage for 90 days, respectively. At the end of exposure period the volume of testes was measured by Cavellieri method, testes weight was recorded and then fixed in Bouin’s solution. Following tissue processing, 5 µm sections were stained with haematoxylin-eosin and evaluated with quantitative techniques. Seminiferous tubule diameter, germinal epithelium height, relative and total volumes of seminiferous tubules, tubular lumen and interstitial tissue were estimated. Results The results showed that mean weight and volume of testis were decreased significantly (35.2% and 23.9% respectively) in rats treated with 500 mg/kg/day DEHP for 90 days. Seminiferous tubules diameter reduced, 4.4% and 13.4% in 100 and 500 mg/kg/day DEHP-treated groups, respectively. Relative volumes of tubular lumen and interstitial tissue were increased significantly in 100 (P< 0.05) and 500 (P< 0.01) mg/kg/day doses groups. Also, testosterone serum levels were significantly higher (P< 0.05) in rats exposed to 500 mg/kg/day DEHP. Conclusion Present study indicated dose-dependent reductions of testicular parameters in adult male rats chronically exposed to di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate.
TCP congestion window evolution and spatial reuse in MANETs

A number of recent research studies have explored ways to improve TCP throughput in mobile ad hoc networks by improving its interaction with the IEEE 802.11 medium access control (MAC) layer. In particular, the hidden terminal effects caused by interference can impact TCP performance dramatically and have been dealt with in the past by restricting the maximum sending window size. We have developed a TCP variant, which instead, adjusts the sending rate increase to achieve competitive goodput for TCP connections. Extensive simulation experiments indicate that a slower sending rate increase during the congestion avoidance phase of TCP leads to improved performance for TCP Reno while eliminating the negative effects inherent in restricting the maximum sending window size. This work discusses the applicability of our TCP oriented solution to the hidden terminal effect, includes a performance comparison against existing solutions and discusses its performance merits under various mobility conditions. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.