Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parathyroid Hormone-Related Protein

AbstractWe review the current state of knowledge of the molecular properties and actions of parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) both in cancer patients and in normal physiology.PTHrP is a common product of squamous cancers and is the major mediator of the syndrome of humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy (HHM) by its actions through parathyroid hormone receptors in bone and kidney. Recently developed radioimmunoassays and tissue localization techniques indicate that PTHrP is produced by many more cancers than was originally indicated by clinical studies and that it contributes significantly to malignancy-related hypercalcemia associated with other etiologies, for example, cancers metastatic to bone and hematological malignancies.The gene encoding PTHrP is complex, with multiple exons coding for up to 12 alternate transcripts and three different length proteins, potentially in a tissue-specific manner, by the use of three promoters. Its expression is regulated by hormones and growth factors, and the .
Creating sustainable benefits for stakeholders of organisations using the strategy mapping framework

Purpose: This paper investigates the association between organisational commitment and sustainable financial performance where environmental and social issues are integrated into the traditional four perspectives of the strategy map framework. Design/methodology/approach: This study involved a survey administered to executives of medium to large Australian companies. Varimax rotated factor analyses were conducted to reduce a total of 47 items related to components of the balanced scorecard’s strategy map to 6 factors – affective commitment, continuance commitment, operations customer and innovation management value-creating processes, CSR value-creating process, customer valued attributes, and growth and productivity financial outcomes. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test the goodness of fit for each measurement model. A structural equation model was used to test three hypotheses for different paths of association between organisational commitment and sustainable financial performance outcomes. Findings/Results: Results reveal that there is an indirect association between affective commitment and financial performance mediated by (a) processes within the internal perspective, and (b) customer valued attributes within the customer perspective. An alternative mediating path through the processes within the internal perspective only was also supported by the results. However, the results indicate that when organisations make community investments, such as donations to the community or community involvement, there is no direct short term financial benefit gained by the organisation. Research limitations/implications: As this study involved a survey and is therefore subject to the usual limitations as acknowledged in the paper. Future research could investigate the effect of a broader range of environmental and social activities within the CSR value-creating process. Practical implications: This study provides an approach to testing the association between organisational commitment, sustainable financial performance, environmental and social issues within the traditional four perspectives of the strategy map framework. Originality/value: This paper adds to the literature by providing evidence about the stakeholders’ sustainable benefits related to the indirect association between organisational commitment elements, CSR value-creating process outcomes on growth and productivity financial performance.
Taking a Strategic Approach to Innovation in Small Firms - the application of a diagnostic assessment tool

The paper outlines the design, development and application of a diagnostic assessment and screening tool for entrepreneurs of small firms engaged in early stage commercialisation of new technologies. This tool examines the commercialisation readiness of the small firm with attention given to marketing, resources, innovation management and strategic planning activities. It also examines the proposed innovation and assesses it against one of six generic innovation configurations. The findings from eight case study firms are discussed along with the benefits of using such a screening tool.
Supporting preemption in wormhole networks

When a computer network is used to support real time applications, meeting delay requirements is a key issue that has to be addressed. We study high performance networks with wormhole routing and investigate their performance in terms of meeting message delay constraints. We found that in this kind of network, preemption control performed at each node plays an important role in supporting real time traffic. In wormhole networks, this may result in unbounded packet blocking time, making it very difficult to efficiently support real time applications. To overcome this problem, we propose both transparent and non-transparent preemption schemes. Simulations show that combining proposed preemption schemes with other priority based schemes can outperform the conventional priority based schemes by a large margin, and the schemes have stable performance in large scale networks.
Assessing and managing the benefits of enterprise systems: the business manager's

This paper focuses on the benefits that organizations may achieve from their investment in enterprise systems (ES). It proposes an ES benefit framework for summarizing benefits in the years after ES implementation. Based on an anal- ysis of the features of enterprise systems, on the literature on information tech- nology (IT) value, on data from 233 enterprise systems vendor-reported stories published on the Web and on interviews with managers of 34 organizations using ES, the framework provides a detailed list of benefits that have reportedly been acquired through ES implementation. This list of benefits is consolidated into five benefits dimensions: operational, managerial, strategic, IT infrastructure and orga- nizational, and illustrated using perceived net benefit flow (PNBF) graphs. In a detailed example, the paper shows how the framework has been applied to the identification of benefits in a longitudinal case study of four organizations.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF CHORIOCARCINOMA: PROBLEMS OF IMMUNITY AND SPONTANEOUS REGRESSION *

During the span of a normal pregnancy, the chorionic epithelium mimics the behavior of a malignant neoplasm, proliferating and invading the uterine wall and, on occasion, discharging portions of its substance into the maternal circulation. This peculiar tissue, frequently characterized as a kind of physiological carcinoma, continues to burrow into a seemingly passive and perhaps even receptive endometrium until the latter part of the first trimester, when the biological balance of power begins to shift. The life course of the fetal plasmodium has been mapped out to achieve a specific functional objective and thereafter to be cast off and forgotten. Over a period of about nine months and under the influence of factors as yet unknown, the trophoblast passes through a phase of destructive expansion into a continuously regressive state ending with delivery and the ejection of the placenta. Certain aberrations of pregnancy also appear distinguished by trophoblastic involution. Hydatidiform mole, for centuries an inspiration to medical mystics, usually is regarded as a product of degeneration. Choriocarcinoma, a traditionally malignant disturbance, has been known to misbehave; scattered instances of spontaneous remission and cure despite grave prognosis have been reported and, in some cases, excision of the primary tumor has been followed by disappearance of metastatic disease. It is possible that trophoblastic regression, operating as either a primary or secondary factor, may participate in various other gestational disorders, notably spontaneous abortions; nevertheless, such regression, paradoxically enough, may be an indispensable element in the termination of a physiological pregnancy. During the past half century the bizarre life cycle of trophoblast has been
Phased arrays in wireless power transfer

The recent increase in RFID usage coupled with the evolving IoT has revamped the need for Wireless Power Transfer (WPT). In this paper, a brief review of systems using WPT is offered including: RFIDs, inductively coupled systems and electromagnetic harvesters. A case study for phased array antenna beamforming and its benefits to wireless power transfer are given. A 3x linear patch array at 5.8 GHz is designed and measured. Also, a 5.8 GHz SOI CMOS integrated harvester is designed and measured to demonstrate the possible advancement of WPT at higher frequencies using directive power in the 5G network spectrum.
Post-Acquisition Performance and Analyst Following: US Evidence

We review the long-term post-takeover sharemarket performance of firms that made 502 US corporate acquisitions between 1980-1995 and had data available in the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP). In line with earlier research, we find that acquirers involved in mergers, but not tender offers, earned abnormally negative returns in the three-year period following the target delisting. However, the negative performance is driven by firms not included in I|B|E|S analyst coverage. Merging firms covered by analysts exhibit insignificant abnormal performance. We conclude that ostensibly anomalous post-merger performance is driven by a subset of firms for which information costs are higher and therefore non-controversially likely to have share prices that are slower to reflect value-relevant information. We do not resolve all anomalies. We find acquirers who made cash-based tender offers exhibit abnormally positive returns in the three-years following target delisting even after controlling for analyst following and eliminating frequent acquirers.
Enhanced carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis in mice lacking adiponectin.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Obesity is one of the risk factors for liver fibrosis, in which plasma adiponectin, an adipocytokine, levels are decreased. Hepatic stellate cells play central roles in liver fibrosis. When they are activated, they undergo transformation to myofibroblast-like cells. Adiponectin suppresses the proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells, whose characteristics are similar to those of hepatic stellate cells. Adiponectin could have biological significances in liver fibrosis. METHODS The role of adiponectin on liver fibrosis induced by the administration of carbon tetrachloride twice a week for 12 weeks was tested by using adiponectin-knockout mice and an adenovirus-mediated adiponectin-expression system. We also investigated the effect of adiponectin in activated hepatic stellate cells. RESULTS When mice were administered carbon tetrachloride (300 microL/kg body weight) twice a week for 12 weeks, knockout mice showed extensive liver fibrosis with an enhanced expression of transforming growth factor-beta 1 and connective tissue growth factor compared with wild-type mice (P < 0.05). Injection of adenovirus producing adiponectin (AdADN) before carbon tetrachloride (1000 microL/kg body weight) treatment prevented liver fibrosis in wild-type mice (P < 0.001). Injection of AdADN at 6 weeks attenuated liver fibrosis even though carbon tetrachloride was given for an additional 6 weeks (total of 12 weeks). In cultured hepatic stellate cells, adiponectin suppressed platelet-derived growth factor-induced proliferation and migration and attenuated the effect of transforming growth factor-beta 1 on the gene expression of transforming growth factor-beta 1 and connective tissue growth factor and on nuclear translocation of Smad2. CONCLUSIONS The findings indicate that adiponectin attenuates liver fibrosis and could be a novel approach in its prevention.
Special Issue on Robot Learning by Observation, Demonstration, and Imitation

This special issue contains selected extended contributions from both the Adaptation in Artificial and Biological Systems symposium held in Hertforshire in 2006 and the wider academic community following a public call for papers in 2006. The papers presented serve as a good illustration of the challenges faced by robotics researchers today in the field of programming by observation, demonstration, and imitation.
Iterative procedure for estimating frequency components of a polyharmonic signal

Computing sparse approximation of a signal is a demanding task encountered by such processing techniques as compressed sensing. Estimation of the frequencies of a sum of sinusoidal signals with unknown amplitudes and phases in the presence of noise by means of nonlinear least squares allows to achieve high resolution between close frequencies while keeping the estimation error low. However, computing that estimate incurs significant computational expenses due to the presence of multiple local minima in the object function. This article presents an algorithm that allows finding the estimates without resorting to global multidimensional search.
Stapled Securities: Antipodean Anomaly or Adaptable Innovation?

The issuing of stapled securities (such as a unit in a trust and a share in a company) which cannot be traded separately occurs relatively frequently in Australia but is not common elsewhere. This paper outlines the features and usage of stapled security structures and examines explanations for their popularity in Australia such as tax, behavioral finance, and governance aspects. It considers the use of such structures, and regulatory impediments, in other economies.
Thumbs-Up - Wearable Sensing Device for Detecting Hand-to-Mouth Compulsive Habits

Thumbs-Up explores a novel sensing method for detection of hand-to-mouth compulsive habits. Using electrical bio-impedance spectroscopy and inertial measurement units, a prototype system was implemented. The system can easily be worn around the arm and may perhaps be integrated into future wearable devices. It recognises occurrences of the habits in real-time, allowing monitoring and immediate interventions. These have so far been very limited, impeding behavioural studies and the development of therapeutic treatments. Throughout this paper the methodâs feasibility is demonstrated and aspects of its performance are explored. We present an approach to process the bio-impedance signals and associate them with possible body postures. A positioning strategy optimises the deviceâs sensitivity and increases its efficacy. Machine learning algorithms are leveraged to infer the hand-to-mouth detection. We achieve 92% detection accuracy for recurrent usage and 90% accuracy for users that have not been previously encountered.
The RNA Binding Protein Nuclear Factor 90 Functions as Both a Positive and Negative Regulator of Gene Expression in Mammalian Cells

ABSTRACT Nuclear factor 90 (NF90) was originally isolated in a complex that binds to the antigen recognition response element (ARRE-2) present in the interleukin-2 promoter. To characterize the transcriptional properties of NF90 in mammalian cells, we examined its ability to modulate promoter function in cellular transfection assays. NF90-Gal4 fusion proteins inhibited transcription from the adenovirus major late promoter in a fashion that was dependent on Gal4 targeting. Conversely, NF90 activated the cytomegalovirus immediate-early promoter, to which it was not targeted. These effects required distinct but overlapping domains in the C terminus of NF90, which contains a functional nuclear localization signal and two double-stranded-RNA binding motifs. NF90 is present in cellular complexes together with the NF45 protein. Transfection assays showed that NF45 binds NF90 strongly and stimulates its ability to activate but not to inhibit gene expression. This report characterizes NF90 as both a positive and negative regulator of gene expression, depending on the promoter context, and suggests a role for NF45 as a regulator of NF90.
International Trade Negotiations and the Trans-Border Movement of People: A Review of the Literature

We review the international and New Zealand literatures on the two-way interaction between international migration and agreements designed to enhance cross-border trade or investment. Benefits and costs of migration, to the extent that these may feature in trade and migration negotiations, are discussed. While trade and migration can be substitutes in some contexts, they will be complements in other contexts. Liberalisation of services and the movement of people are likely to offer much more significant gains than liberalisation of remaining barriers to goods trade. Significant scope for liberalisation under GATS mode 4 (the movement of natural persons) may remain. However, temporary migration is already promoted on a unilateral and bilateral basis within immigration policy frameworks that may provide greater flexibility than GATS mode 4. With respect to both trade and migration, the more diverse the exchanging countries are, the greater the economic benefits tend to be. However, greater diversity may also imply greater social costs. This paradox of diversity needs to be addressed through appropriate social policies accompanying enhanced temporary and permanent migration.
miR‐194 is a marker of hepatic epithelial cells and suppresses metastasis of liver cancer cells in mice

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression by interacting with the 3′ untranslated region (3′‐UTR) of multiple mRNAs. Recent studies have linked miRNAs to the development of cancer metastasis. In this study, we show that miR‐194 is specifically expressed in the human gastrointestinal tract and kidney. Moreover, miR‐194 is highly expressed in hepatic epithelial cells, but not in Kupffer cells or hepatic stellate cells, two types of mesenchymal cells in the liver. miR‐194 expression was decreased in hepatocytes cultured in vitro, which had undergone a dedifferentiation process. Furthermore, expression of miR‐194 was low in liver mesenchymal‐like cancer cell lines. The overexpression of miR‐194 in liver mesenchymal‐like cancer cells reduced the expression of the mesenchymal cell marker N‐cadherin and suppressed invasion and migration of the mesenchymal‐like cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. We further demonstrated that miR‐194 targeted the 3′‐UTRs of several genes that were involved in epithelial‐mesenchymal transition and cancer metastasis. Conclusion: These results support a role of miR‐194, which is specifically expressed in liver parenchymal cells, in preventing liver cancer cell metastasis. (HEPATOLOGY 2010;.)
The Dynamics of Technical and Business Networks in Industrial Clusters: Embeddedness, status or proximity?

Although informal knowledge networks have often been regarded as a key ingredient behind the success of industrial clusters, the forces that shape their structure and dynamics remain largely unknown. Drawing on recent network dynamic models, we analyze the evolution of business and technical informal networks within a toy cluster in Spain. Empirical results suggest that the dynamics of the two networks differ to a large extent. We find that status drives the formation of business networks, proximity is more crucial for technical networks, while embeddedness plays an equally important role in the dynamics of business and technical networks.
The Effect of Cash Conversion Cycle on Profitability of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises.

Working capital management holds an important place among financial management decisions. Firms’ keeping working continuously in the long term depends on investments on working capital. The optimal level of working capital for a firm can be provided when there is a balance between profitability and liquidity. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of cash conversion cycle which is used to evaluate the effectiveness of working capital management on profitability of firms. With this aim, data set between 2009 and 2013 from 19 firms in Gumushane city in Turkey working in the fields of fruit leather and churchkhela production have been used. According to the results of panel data analysis results, there is a positive effect of cash conversion cycle on profitability of firms.
A Simple Proof of Vitali's Theorem for Signed Measures

Abstract Several theorems are named after the Italian mathematician Vitali. In this note, we provide a simple proof of an extension of Vitali's Theorem on the existence of nonmeasurable sets. Specifically we show, without using any decomposition theorems, that there does not exist a nontrivial, atom-less, σ-additive and translation invariant set function L from the power set of the real line to the extended real numbers with L([0, 1]) = 1. (Note that L is not assumed to be nonnegative.)
Modulatory effect of calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII) on sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ handling and interval–force relations: a modelling study

We hypothesize that slow inactivation of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII) and its modulatory effect on sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ handling are important for various interval–force (I–F) relations, in particular for the beat interval dependency in transient alternans during the decay of post-extrasystolic potentiation. We have developed a mathematical model of a single cardiomyocyte to integrate various I–F relations, including alternans, by incorporating a conceptual CaMKII kinetics model into the SR Ca2+ handling model. Our model integrates I–F relations, such as the beat interval-dependent twitch force duration, restitution and potentiation, positive staircase phenomenon and alternans. We found that CaMKII affects more or less all I–F relations, and it is a key factor for integration of the various I–F relations in our model. Alternans arises, in the model, out of a steep relation between SR Ca2+ load and release, owing to SR load-dependent changes in the releasability of Ca2+ via the ryanodine receptor. Beat interval-dependent CaMKII activity, owing to its kinetic properties and amplifying effect on SR Ca2+ load dependency of Ca2+ release, replicated the beat interval dependency of alternans, as observed experimentally. Additionally, our model enabled reproduction of the effects of various interventions on alternans, such as the slowing or accelerating of Ca2+ release and/or uptake. We conclude that a slow time-dependent factor, represented in the model by CaMKII, is important for the integration of I–F relations, including alternans, and that our model offers a useful tool for further analysis of the roles of integrative Ca2+ handling in myocardial I–F relations.
Exopolysaccharide Sugars Contribute to Biofilm Formation by Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium on HEp-2 Cells and Chicken Intestinal Epithelium

ABSTRACT Recently, we demonstrated that Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium can form biofilm on HEp-2 cells in a type 1 fimbria-dependent manner. Previous work on Salmonella exopolysaccharide (EPS) in biofilm indicated that the EPS composition can vary based upon the substratum on which the bacterial biofilm forms. We have investigated the role of genes important in the production of colanic acid and cellulose, common components of EPS. A mutation in the colanic acid biosynthetic gene, wcaM, was introduced into S. enterica serovar Typhimurium strain BJ2710 and was found to disrupt biofilm formation on HEp-2 cells and chicken intestinal tissue, although biofilm formation on a plastic surface was unaffected. Complementation of the wcaM mutant with the functional gene restored the biofilm phenotype observed in the parent strain. A mutation in the putative cellulose biosynthetic gene, yhjN, was found to disrupt biofilm formation on HEp-2 cells and chicken intestinal epithelium, as well as on a plastic surface. Our data indicate that Salmonella attachment to, and growth on, eukaryotic cells represent complex interactions that are facilitated by species of EPS.