Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Export Readiness Assessment of Ten Iranian Pharmaceutical Companies and Comparison with their Export Performance

Background: In the area of exporting, in developing countries, including Iran, the concept of export readiness is unknown to many decision makers and field of activity of Iranian pharmaceutical companies have been limited to the domestic market. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to compare the export performance of ten Iranian pharmaceutical companies with their export readiness. Methods: In order to do this, the top ten of Iranian pharmaceutical companies were selected as the sample. The companies' export readiness was measured, and compared with their export volume as well as their export growth (as two factors for determining the export performance) in five years, to practically check the model and find the strengths and weaknesses of these Iranian pharmaceutical companies in the export factors. Results: Base on the results of the study, the export readiness of these companies does not have significant correlation with companies' export volume in the current circumstances, but it can predict the export growth in the firm's export rate with 95% certainty. Conclusion: The most important thing is that according to the data collected in our study, most of these ten Iranian pharmaceutical companies are not ready to attend in exporting and international markets and only two companies were ready to export. It seems that making improvement in some variables like obtaining international standards, marketing and exporting education, having a transparent and documented plan and having the responsible person for export could increase export readiness of pharmaceutical companies.
The value and cost of complexity in predictive modelling: role of tissue anisotropic conductivity and fibre tracts in neuromodulation

Objectives. Computational methods are increasingly used to optimize transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) dose strategies and yet complexities of existing approaches limit their clinical access. Since predictive modelling indicates the relevance of subject/pathology based data and hence the need for subject specific modelling, the incremental clinical value of increasingly complex modelling methods must be balanced against the computational and clinical time and costs. For example, the incorporation of multiple tissue layers and measured diffusion tensor (DTI) based conductivity estimates increase model precision but at the cost of clinical and computational resources. Costs related to such complexities aggregate when considering individual optimization and the myriad of potential montages. Here, rather than considering if additional details change current-flow prediction, we consider when added complexities influence clinical decisions. Approach. Towards developing quantitative and qualitative metrics of value/cost associated with computational model complexity, we considered field distributions generated by two 4 × 1 high-definition montages (m1 = 4 × 1 HD montage with anode at C3 and m2 = 4 × 1 HD montage with anode at C1) and a single conventional (m3 = C3-Fp2) tDCS electrode montage. We evaluated statistical methods, including residual error (RE) and relative difference measure (RDM), to consider the clinical impact and utility of increased complexities, namely the influence of skull, muscle and brain anisotropic conductivities in a volume conductor model. Main results. Anisotropy modulated current-flow in a montage and region dependent manner. However, significant statistical changes, produced within montage by anisotropy, did not change qualitative peak and topographic comparisons across montages. Thus for the examples analysed, clinical decision on which dose to select would not be altered by the omission of anisotropic brain conductivity. Significance. Results illustrate the need to rationally balance the role of model complexity, such as anisotropy in detailed current flow analysis versus value in clinical dose design. However, when extending our analysis to include axonal polarization, the results provide presumably clinically meaningful information. Hence the importance of model complexity may be more relevant with cellular level predictions of neuromodulation.
Wissenschaftsnews

An der Studie teilnehmen konnten Patienten, die sich aufgrund einer vermuteten ISS einer invasiven Koronarangiografie unterzogen. Sie wurden randomisiert auf 2 Gruppen verteilt und erhielten zusätzlich eine nicht invasive Koronarangiografie mittels eines Multidetektor-CT. Dabei wurde Gruppe A mit einem Gerät der neueren Generation mit einer höheren räumlichen Auflösung von 230μm untersucht, Gruppe B mit einem herkömmlichen Gerät. Anschließend verglichen die Autoren die Ergebnisse beider Gruppen miteinander, wobei invasive Koronarangiografie und intravaskulärer Ultraschall als Vergleichsstandard dienten. Außerdem berechneten sie die Strahlendosen.
Is NOTCH4 associated with schizophrenia?

The NOTCH4 locus was reported to be associated with schizophrenia in our previous study but the subsequent replication by other workers has been inconsistent. To find out possible reasons for the poor replication, the present work was undertaken to analyse four functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs367398, rs915894, rs520692 and rs422951) at the NOTCH4 locus among 141 schizophrenic family trios of Chinese Han descent. Of these four SNPs, rs520692 was the only one associated with schizophrenia (P=0.017); the other three, however, did not show any association with the illness, including rs367398 located in the promoter region, which had shown a strong association with the illness in our previous study conducted with British samples. Although these four SNPs analysed lie within a less than 4 kb segment of genomic DNA, the pattern of linkage disequilibrium between them was unexpected. The strongest linkage disequilibrium was shown only between rs367398 and rs520692 and between rs520692 and rs422951 in both parent and patient groups. This study raises the possibility that there might be two or more disease-underlying variants at the NOTCH4 locus or at a nearby locus, and that the allelic or locus heterogeneity may be one of the possible reasons for the poor replication of the NOTCH4 finding.
Improved Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi tracker for images with scale changes

To match two images with a large scale difference, a scale parameter can be introduced into the warp parameters of the KLT tracker. For some images, the KLT tracker with the scale warp parameter fails to converge. We assume that this result is caused by the singularity of the Hessian matrix. An improved KLT tracker is proposed to avoid this tracking failure. The proposed method introduces an index (scale invariance index) to determine how close the Hessian matrix is to a singular one with the scale warp parameter. According to the index, either of two different sets of warp parameters is selected: one is with the scale warp parameter and the other is without it.
Major depression during and after the menopausal transition: Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN)

Background It is unclear whether risk for major depression during the menopausal transition or immediately thereafter is increased relative to pre-menopause. We aimed to examine whether the odds of experiencing major depression were greater when women were peri- or post-menopausal compared to when they were pre-menopausal, independent of a history of major depression at study entry and annual measures of vasomotor symptoms (VMS), serum levels of, or changes in, estradiol (E2), follicular stimulating hormone (FSH) or testosterone (T) and relevant confounders. Method Participants included the 221 African American and Caucasian women, aged 42–52 years, who were pre-menopausal at entry into the Pittsburgh site of a community-based study of menopause, the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN). We conducted the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID) to assess diagnoses of lifetime, annual and current major depression at baseline and at annual follow-ups. Psychosocial and health factors, and blood samples for assay of reproductive hormones, were obtained annually. Results Women were two to four times more likely to experience a major depressive episode (MDE) when they were peri-menopausal or early post-menopausal. Repeated-measures logistic regression analyses showed that the effect of menopausal status was independent of history of major depression and annually measured upsetting life events, psychotropic medication use, VMS and serum levels of or changes in reproductive hormones. History of major depression was a strong predictor of major depression throughout the study. Conclusions The risk of major depression is greater for women during and immediately after the menopausal transition than when they are pre-menopausal.
Instrumentation for the accurate measurement of phase and amplitude in optical tomography

A single-channel prototype for a frequency-domain optical tomography system is presented. The two main goals in the design of the system were the measurement of phase with minimal systematic errors and a high enough signal-to-noise ratio to detect the small changes in the absorption of brain tissue during brain activity. Although the system inherently is an imaging system, the aspects of the system that relate to multichannel operation will be published separately, as this part of the system is not yet finished. The instrument is described in detail, including the radio-frequency system, the light detection system, and the light source. Factors that affect the accuracy of the measured phase include phase drift, radio-frequency coupling between the source and detector electronics, phase-amplitude cross talk, and others. To increase the range of intensities that can be measured, the gain of the detector is adjusted while keeping the mean anode current small compared with the quiescent current through the vo.
Cranial Sutures: A Brief Review

Summary: Craniosynostosis, or the premature fusion of one or more cranial sutures, is a relatively common congenital defect that causes a number of morphologic and functional abnormalities. With advances in genetics and molecular biology, research of craniosynostosis has progressed from describing gross abnormalities to understanding the molecular interactions that underlie these cranial deformities. Animal models have been extremely valuable in improving our comprehension of human craniofacial morphogenesis, primarily by human genetic linkage analysis and the development of knock-out animals. This article provides a brief review of perisutural tissue interactions, embryonic origins, signaling molecules and their receptors, and transcription factors in maintaining the delicate balance between proliferation and differentiation of cells within the suture complex that determines suture fate. Finally, this article discusses the potential implications for developing novel therapies for craniosynostosis.
Time is brain: an update

The ‘6-month’ threshold for treating symptomatic patients is obsolete. There is compelling evidence that the highest-risk period for stroke (after suffering a transient ischemic attack) is the first 2 weeks, especially the first few days, and that carotid endarterectomy (CEA) confers maximal benefit when performed early. Despite well-documented anxieties, there is increasing evidence that CEA can be performed safely within the first 7 days after onset of symptoms, although risks may be higher when performed within 48 h. The role for carotid artery stenting in the hyperacute period remains uncertain. Centers performing carotid artery stenting within 14 days of symptom onset with risks equivalent to CEA should be encouraged to continue and help others to achieve similar outcomes. For the majority, however, CEA will probably remain the safer option. ‘Best medical therapy’ and risk factor modification should be started as soon as a transient ischemic attack is suspected, while the early introduction of dual antiplatelet therapy may reduce recurrent events prior to CEA, without increasing perioperative bleeding complications.
Value Creation in Research Based Production Systems: An Empirical Study

The current paper investigates empirically the relation between relatively radical changes (radical for medium sized firms) in strategic research and development (R&D) firm-choices occurring within small time windows and an evaluation of the extent of the firm’s exploratory knowledge activity. In particular, value is co-created in use, because customers assess and determine the value of the proposition on the basis of the specificity of their usage. This paper focuses on the impact that moving between exploitation and exploration can have on a firm’s innovative performance. This study develops a conceptual framework of value creation and appropriation in the technological growth process in medium sized multinationals and analyses this in an exploratory longitudinal multi-case study. This research approach is inductive and deductive, which means that the aim is directed towards theory building through the original use of existing theory from both international managerial literature and empirical analysis. Overall, this study provides a unique contribution in terms of both theoretical development and managerial implications by investigating the two activities (operations and R&D activities) with the aspects of global development.
Amino Acids 143 to 150 of the Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Scaffold Protein Are Required for the Formation of Portal-Containing Capsids

ABSTRACT The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) portal is composed of a dodecamer of UL6 protein molecules whose incorporation into the capsid is mediated by interaction with the HSV-1 UL26.5 scaffold protein. Previous results with an in vitro capsid assembly assay demonstrated that nine amino acids (amino acids 143 to 151) of the UL26.5 protein are required for its interaction with UL6 and for incorporation of the portal complex into capsids. In the present study an HSV-1 mutant, bvFH411, was isolated and contained a deletion that removed the codons for UL26.5 amino acids 143 to 150. The mutant virus failed to produce infectious virus in noncomplementing cells, and only B capsids that contained only minor amounts of portal protein were made. These data corroborate our previous in vitro studies and demonstrate that amino acids 143 to 150 of UL26.5 are required for the formation of portal-containing HSV-1 capsids.
Cherry pickers or frog kissers? The double sided matching between Venture Capital and high-tech companies

The theoretical and empirical literature generally agree in considering Venture Capital (VC) as a fundamental ingredient for the success of high-tech entrepreneurial ventures. Nevertheless, in some bankbased countries where VC could play a fundamental role for high-tech firms, a non-negligible fraction of these companies do not actively seek VC, and the empirical evidence points out even good companies might self-select out of the market. In order to explain this puzzling evidence, we develop a two step matching model between VC and firms. VC selects companies on the basis of its potential impact on their performance, which is maximum for firms which have a high potential and whose founders have low level of personal resources. The probability that a firm finds it optimal to seek VC increases with the quality of its entrepreneurial idea, but decrease with the endowment of resources owned by the founders. This latter effect in principle could dominate the former leading “worse” companies to be selected rather than “good” ones. The probability that a firm seeks VC will decrease with the extent of search costs and increase with the development of the VC market. We test the theoretical predictions of the model on a sample of 202 Italian New Technology-Based Firms. The empirical evidence supports the view that search costs and VC market development substantially affect the likelihood of a company to be on the market for VC. We also find evidence that firms seeking VC are those whose founders are less endowed with complementary assets.
Natural Robot Programming System

Abstruct-When applying robots in small scale production, the bottleneck is programming. There are three conventional ways to generate robot programs: by walk through, lead through and off-line programming. Walk through programming has limited application. Lead through programming can be time consuming and inefficient, while current off-line programming systems need large capital investment. This paper introduces a robot programming method that provides a natural interface between man and robot at a low cast. The system translates the human motion into a robot language, using the human hand as a teaching device, so that users never use the keyboard nor CRT. Harry West
How foreign and institutional directorship affects corporate dividend policy

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to examine how board composition affects dividend policies. Concretely, we analyse the effect of institutional directors on boards, also differentiating between pressure-sensitive and pressure-resistant institutional directors. Furthermore, the impact of foreign directors is also examined. The findings show that institutional and foreign directors on boards affect dividend policies positively, suggesting that these directors are more likely to mitigate agency costs. Additionally, the results report the relevant monitoring role that pressure-sensitive directors play, since they impact positively on dividend policies, while pressure-resistant directors show no effect. Thus, institutional directors should not be considered as a uniform group.
Intellectual abilities and adaptive behavior of children and adolescents with Kabuki syndrome: A preliminary study

Very little is known about the intellectual abilities and adaptive behavior of individuals who have Kabuki syndrome, beyond the fact that most individuals with this syndrome have mental retardation. To fill this gap, we have completed psychological assessments of 11 children and adolescents with Kabuki syndrome. Results indicated that most of the participants functioned in the range of mild mental retardation, with both intellectual and adaptive behavior in the mildly deficient range and problem behaviors, if any, limited to mild difficulties with inattention and/or hyperactivity–impulsivity and mild problems with obsession/anxiety. At the lower extreme, one child evidenced severe mental retardation and profound adaptive behavior impairment accompanied by serious externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors. At the upper extreme, one adolescent had average intelligence and adaptive behavior, with problem behaviors well within the normal range for his chronological age. Most participants evidenced relative intellectual strengths in verbal and reasoning abilities and a relative weakness in visuospatial construction abilities. This pattern affected adaptive behavior as well, yielding a relative strength in Social Interaction and Communicative Skills and considerable weakness in Motor Skills and Personal Living Skills. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Diagnosis and management of ankylosing spondylitis

Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory rheumatic disorder that primarily affects the axial skeleton. Sacroiliitis is its hallmark, accompanied by inflammation of the entheses (points of union between tendon, ligament, or capsule and bone) and formation of syndesmophytes, leading to spinal ankylosis in later stages. Prevalence estimates vary between 0.1% and 2% in different populations.1 The male:female ratio is around 5:1, and the peak age of onset is at 15-35 years. Because of its insidious nature, the diagnosis is sometimes delayed until late stages of the disease. Until recently, treatment has been limited to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and physiotherapy, but the development of cytokine inhibitors that inhibit the activity of tumour necrosis factor α has been an important advance in treatment. We searched Medline for clinical trials and reviews using the keywords “ankylosing spondylitis,” “treatment,” “physiotherapy,” “NSAIDs,” “DMARDs,” “anti-TNF,” and “biologics. ” The most commonly used criteria for the classification of ankylosing spondylitis were developed in 1966 and modified in 1984.23 They are: 1. Low back pain of at least three months duration with inflammatory characteristics (improved by exercise, not relieved by rest) 2. Limitation of lumbar spine motion in sagittal and frontal planes 3. Decreased chest expansion (relative to normal values for age and sex) 4. Bilateral sacroiliitis grade 2 or higher 5. Unilateral sacroiliitis grade 3 or higher. Definite ankylosing spondylitis is said to be present when the fourth or fifth criterion presents with any clinical criteria. However, radiological sacroiliitis may not develop for many years, and the development of new criteria (including magnetic resonance imaging) has been proposed to allow confirmation of the diagnosis in patients with early disease (see below). 4 ### History The key point in a patient's history is inflammatory back pain.5 This typically presents as low back pain and stiffness of insidious onset that is worse first …
Application of Moth Flame Optimization Algorithm for AGC of Multi-Area Interconnected Power Systems

A﻿novel﻿attempt﻿has﻿been﻿made﻿to﻿use﻿Moth﻿Flame﻿Optimization﻿(MFO)﻿algorithm﻿to﻿optimize﻿PI/ PID﻿controller﻿parameters﻿for﻿AGC﻿of﻿power﻿system. ﻿Four﻿different﻿power﻿systems﻿are﻿considered﻿ in﻿the﻿present﻿article. ﻿Initially,﻿a﻿two﻿area﻿thermal﻿power﻿system﻿is﻿considered﻿for﻿simulation. ﻿The﻿ superiority﻿of﻿the﻿proposed﻿MFO﻿optimized﻿PI/PID﻿controller﻿has﻿been﻿demonstrated﻿by﻿comparing﻿ the﻿results﻿with﻿recently﻿published﻿approaches﻿such﻿as﻿conventional,﻿GA,﻿BFOA,﻿DE,﻿PSO,﻿Hybrid﻿ BFOA-PSO,﻿FA﻿and﻿GWO﻿algorithm﻿optimized﻿PI/PID﻿controller﻿for﻿the﻿same﻿power﻿system﻿model. ﻿ Then,﻿a﻿sensitivity﻿analysis﻿is﻿carried﻿out﻿to﻿study﻿the﻿robustness﻿of﻿the﻿system﻿to﻿wide﻿changes﻿in﻿ the﻿operating﻿conditions﻿and﻿system﻿parameters﻿from﻿their﻿nominal﻿values. ﻿The﻿proposed﻿approach﻿ is﻿ extended﻿ to﻿ different﻿ realistic﻿ multi-area﻿ multi-source﻿ power﻿ systems﻿ with﻿ diverse﻿ sources﻿ of﻿ power﻿generations﻿for﻿simulation﻿study. ﻿The﻿acceptability﻿and﻿efficacy﻿of﻿the﻿proposed﻿technique﻿is﻿ demonstrated﻿by﻿comparing﻿with﻿other﻿recently﻿published﻿techniques. KEywORdS Automatic Generation Control, Moth-Flame Optimization Algorithm, Multi-Area Power System, Nature-Inspired Algorithm, Nuclear Power Plant, Sensitivity Analysis, Solar Thermal Power Plant
Src-Mediated Phosphorylation of Dynamin and Cortactin Regulates the “Constitutive” Endocytosis of Transferrin

ABSTRACT The mechanisms by which epithelial cells regulate clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) of transferrin are poorly defined and generally viewed as a constitutive process that occurs continuously without regulatory constraints. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time that endocytosis of the transferrin receptor is a regulated process that requires activated Src kinase and, subsequently, phosphorylation of two important components of the endocytic machinery, namely, the large GTPase dynamin 2 (Dyn2) and its associated actin-binding protein, cortactin (Cort). To our knowledge these findings are among the first to implicate an Src-mediated endocytic cascade in what was previously presumed to be a nonregulated internalization process.