Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Unique and overlapping pollutant stress proteins of Escherichia coli

Exposure of growing batch cultures of Escherichia coli to nine different "model micropollutants" (benzene, cadmium chloride, chlorpyrivos, 2,4-dichloroaniline, dioctylphtalate, hexachlorobenzene, pentachlorophenol, trichloroethylene, and tetrapropylbenzosulfonate) led to the induction of 13 to 39 proteins, as analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Some of these proteins overlapped with heat shock and carbon starvation proteins, but at least 50% were unique to a given chemical. The stress protein induction showed a temporal pattern, indicating sequential gene expression. Chemical stress protein synthesis occurred even at concentrations that had no effect on growth. Thus, the synthesis of these proteins can be a sensitive index of stress and the nature of environmental pollution.
Family Business Transfer: The Importance of Continuing the Business

This paper is about business transfer in family businesses companies. The problem of succession in family businesses in Portugal gets special interest given the high number of these companies. The field study uses interviews from five cases studies which were in a succession process. To help in the succession process is important to take into account the succession plan role and all problems that can happen during the process. The succession plan is the most important instrument in the succession process. It should be done on time to prepare conveniently whom is the successor, when and how the succession takes place. Even though, our evidence suggests that succession can be successful, even without a formal succession plan.
THE BENEFITS OF BRAND LOYALTY TO BUSINESSES IN GHANA

In modern marketing, companies are competing heavily to hold existing and to gain new market share. In order to accomplish this, marketing communication is of high importance. In consumer marketing, brands often provide the primary points of differentiation between competitive offerings, and as such they can be critical to the success of companies (Wood, 2000). Consumers have now been exposed to a proliferation of brand choice alternatives, making the business environment very competitive. Just as Wood indicated, businesses are now battling to keep competitors from grabbing off customers, complaining that there just doesn’t seem to be as much brand loyalty around as there used to be. This complaint means that it is not easy to obtain and maintain consumers’ loyalty to a company’s product, since there are many forces driving consumers to be disloyal (e.g., competitions, consumers’ thirst for variety, etc).
Uncovering Features in Kindred Programs

The detection of similar code can support many software engineering tasks such as program understanding and API replacement. Many excellent approaches have been proposed to detect programs having similar syntactic features. However, some programs dynamically or statistically close to each other, which we call kindred programs, may be ignored. We believe the detection of kindred programs can enhance or even automate the tasks relevant to program classification. In this proposal, we will discuss our current approaches to mine kindred programs having similar functional features and behavioral features. We will also roadmap our on-going development that integrates program analysis with machine learning models to extract statistical features from codebases.
A single step purification, immobilization, and hyperactivation of lipases via interfacial adsorption on strongly hydrophobic supports

A number of bacterial lipases can be immobilized in a rapid and strong fashion on octyl-agarose gels (e.g., lipases from Candida antarctica, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Rhizomucor miehei, Humicola lanuginosa, Mucor javanicus, and Rhizopus niveus). Adsorption rates in absence of ammonium sulfate are higher than in its presence, opposite to the observation for typical hydrophobic adsorption of proteins. At 10 mM phosphate, adsorption of lipases is fairly selective allowing enzyme purification associated with their reversible immobilization. Interestingly, these immobilized lipase molecules show a dramatic hyperactivation. For example, lipases from R. niveus, M. miehei, and H. lanuginosa were 6-, 7-, and 20-fold more active than the corresponding soluble enzymes when catalyzing the hydrolysis of a fully soluble substrate (0.4 mM p-nitrophenyl propionate). Even higher hyperactivations and interesting changes in stereospecificity were also observed for the hydrolysis of larger soluble chiral esters (e.g. (R,S)-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutanoic ethyl ester). These results suggest that lipases recognize these "well-defined" hydrophobic supports as solid interfaces and they become adsorbed through the external areas of the large hydrophobic active centers of their "open and hyperactivated structure". This selective interfacial adsorption of lipases becomes a very promising immobilization method with general application for most lipases. Through this method, we are able to combine, via a single and easily performed adsorption step, the purification, the strong immobilization, and a dramatic hyperactivation of lipases acting in the absence of additional interfaces, (e.g., in aqueous medium with soluble substrate). Copyright 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Cohort perception of luxury goods and services

Purpose – This research aims to investigate differences between cohorts and perceptions of luxury goods and services.Design/methodology/approach – A survey asked participants to rate goods to determine their perceptions of luxury. Participants also provided information concerning elasticity and motivations for purchasing goods and services. A total of 347 participants in three age groups completed the questionnaire.Findings – The study shows that there are significant differences between cohort groups in their perceptions of luxury goods and services, especially between the oldest and youngest cohorts. The elasticity measures showed that for all three cohorts, certain goods and services were inelastic and, therefore, were considered not to be luxury goods. The reasons why people buy goods they do not need varied between cohorts.Research limitations/implications – The results of the study may not be generalizable to other groups of consumers because it was a convenience sample.Practical implications – The .
Levels of personal agency: Individual variation in action identification.

This research examined individual differences in action identification level as measured by the Behavior Identification Form. Action identification theory holds that any action can be identified in many ways, ranging from low-level identities that specify how the action is performed to high-level identities that signify why or with what effect the action is performed. People who identify action at a uniformly lower or higher level across many action domains, then, may be characterized in terms of their standing on a broad personality dimension: level of personal agency. High-level agents think about their acts in encompassing terms that incorporate the motives and larger meanings of the action, whereas low-level agents think about their acts in terms of the details or means of action. Research on the convergent, divergent, and predictive validity of this construct examined its implications for the individual's overall competence in action, for the individual's inclination toward planful versus impulsive action and for the degree to which the individual's actions are organized by and reflected in the self-concept. Some people think they can do big things. They set out to write a book, to make a fortune, or to win an election. There are others, however, who may undertake much the same tasks with far more meager aims in mind. They might get some ideas on paper, make a profit this week, or shake a few hands at the factory gate. Ultimately, the people who see their acts in big ways may find the same success as those who focus on the details. However, the two ways of identifying action are appropriate and effective in vastly different situations, and they promote radically distinct styles of action. This research was designed to test the reliability and validity of an instrument assessing this action identification dimension. High levels of personal agency represent the tendency to understand one's action in terms of its consequences and implications, whereas low levels of personal agency represent the tendency to see one's action in terms of its details or mechanics. The dimension of personal agency level is derived from action identification theory, a set of principles on the understanding
Consumer's Reliance on Word of Mouse: Influence on Consumer's Decision in an Online Information Asymmetry Context

Intangibility of products in online environment results in higher information asymmetry. To overcome this asymmetric information issue, consumers may rely upon online reviews, i.e. word of mouse as a signal of quality. Two models were chosen to measure the impact of word of mouse characteristics on consumer’s decision for this study. An objective data (proxy measures) as well as subjective data (questionnaire measures) was collected for the reviews available at Epinions online. Results revealed that reviewer’s reputation, expertise and message comprehensiveness are the most influential characteristics of word of mouse information. Identity disclosure, message timeliness and message accuracy were not significant predictors of information usefulness.
Do Different Marketing Practices Require Different Leadership Styles?: An Exploratory Study

Purpose – The literature discusses the relationship between marketing practice and leadership style and suggests that these are dynamic and linked. Providing empirical data, this paper seeks to investigate this relationship between marketing practices and leadership styles.Design/methodology/approach – A model was developed and tested using a survey methodology based on two well‐validated research instruments, one from the Contemporary Marketing Practices research group and the other the MLQ leadership questionnaire. Data were analyzed using a Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach.Findings – The results showed that a transformational style of leadership is positively associated with interaction and network marketing. Transactional leadership is positively associated with database and network marketing. Passive/avoidant leadership has no effect on any of the marketing practices.Research limitations/implications – The research is unique and exploratory, and was conducted in a UK context. The use of moderator.
Quantifying the Effects of Trust in Supply Chains During Promotional Periods

This paper uses a generic dynamic model of a supply chain to quantify the consequences for supply chain dynamics of the distortion of information flows as they are processed by humans and then propagated along the supply chain. An important factor influencing these flows is the level of trust between supply chain partners. The dimensions of such trust are examined here and a brief review of research aimed at evaluating its importance in this area is undertaken. An optimal control model is then constructed to calculate the cost implications of the prevailing level of trust in a multi-echelon supply chain faced with satisfying a promotion for the end product. The mechanism by which both low and high levels of trust distort demand information as it is transmitted along the supply chain is investigated. It is shown that, in certain circumstances, low levels of trust can increase total supply chain costs considerably. In long supply chains it is shown that moderate levels of mistrust are the best policy. A sensitivity analysis reveals that these results are essentially unaffected by the cost structures assumed. Lastly, two methods designed to compensate for low levels of trust are appraised.
An empirical investigation of opportunistic behaviour in project networks and its impact on market efficiency

Subcontractor selection strategies employed by contractors can significantly impact the success of individual organizations and the overall efficiency of the market. Long-term partnerships are promoted by experts from both academia and industry as a means of achieving improved project network productivity; however, opportunistic bidding behaviour that may accompany its implementation might negate the benefits of close collaboration. We conducted a bidding experiment to empirically investigate whether opportunistic behaviour would emerge in a simulated subcontracting process. We conducted 18 experiments involving 6947 competitive bidding transactions between contractors and a pool of subcontractors. The empirical data were collected through an Internet-based interactive bidding simulation developed by the investigators. The findings contribute an empirical demonstration of how opportunistic behaviour occurs in the bidding process and how it can lead to different partner selection strategies by contractors .
The Personal Burden of Decreased Vision-Targeted Health-Related Quality of Life in Nursing Home Residents

Objectives: To present the bother subscales of the Nursing Home Vision-Targeted Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire (NHVQoL) and to examine their relationship to the original NHVQoL subscales and objective measures of visual function. Method: 395 nursing home residents completed the bother subscales. Associations between bother subscales and original subscales and objectively measured vision were evaluated. Results: Mean bother scores ranged from 1.97 to 2.30, reflecting an average rating of “a little” bother. For 20 NHVQoL items, more than 50% of participants reported “a lot” of bother. All NHVQoL original subscale scores were moderately correlated with bother subscales (p < .0001). Bother subscales and visual acuity were not highly correlated. Discussion: Nursing home residents are bothered by reductions in vision-targeted health-related quality of life. The NHVQoL bother subscales may probe the personal burden of visual problems in this population that is not captured by the original subscales or objectively measuring visual function.
INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF ROUGHNESS ELEMENTS ON LAMINAR FLOW IN MICROCHANNELS

Understanding the behavior of laminar flow within microchannels is gaining more importance with the recent interest in microfluidics devices. In the current work, a numerical model was developed to evaluate the effect of surface roughness on hydrodynamic characteristics. In this model, the rough surface is configured with rectangular and triangular elements, respectively. Basing on the entropy production, an equation was developed to study the effect of the fluid flow on the Poiseuille number within valleys and within the reduced cross sections, separately. Also, the calculation of the entropy generation was used to understand the effect of roughness elements on Poiseuille number, and to predict a tendency to their variation with Reynolds number. As a result, a significant increase in Poiseuille number is detected for all configurations. It was detected that the Poiseuille number increases linearly with Reynolds, and this variation is mainly due to the fluid recirculation.
Monitoring Training Loads in Professional Basketball Players Engaged in a Periodized Training Program

Abstract Aoki, MS, Ronda, LT, Marcelino, PR, Drago, G, Carling, C, Bradley, PS, and Moreira, A. Monitoring training loads in professional basketball players engaged in a periodized training program. J Strength Cond Res 31(2): 348–358, 2017—The aim of this study was to investigate the dynamics of external training load (eTL) and internal training load (iTL) during seasonal periods, and examine the effect of a periodized training program on physical performance in professional basketball players. Repeated measures for 9 players (28 ± 6 years; 199 ± 8 cm; 101 ± 12 kg) were collected from 45 training sessions, over a 6-week preseason phase and a 5-week in-season phase. Physical tests were conducted at baseline (T1), week 4 (T2), and week 9 (T3). Differences in means are presented as % ± confident limits. A very likely difference was observed during in-season compared with preseason for the eTL variables (measured by multivariable monitoring device), mechanical load (13.5 ± 8.8) and peak acceleration (11.0 ± 11.2), respectively. Regarding iTL responses, a very large decrement in TRIMP (most likely difference, −20.6 ± 3.8) and in session rating of perceived exertion training load (very likely difference, −14.2 ± 9.0) was detected from preseason to in-season. Physical performance improved from T1 to T3 for Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test 1 (62.2 ± 34.3, effect size [ES] > 1.2); countermovement jump (8.8 ± 6.1, ES > 0.6); and squat jump (14.8 ± 10.2, ES > 0.8). Heart rate (HR; %HRpeak) exercise responses during a submaximal running test decreased from T1 to T3 (3.2 ± 4.3, ES < 0.6), as well as the HR recovery after the test (14.7 ± 8.8, ES > 1.2). These results provide valuable information to coaches about training loads and physical performance across different seasonal periods. The data demonstrate that both eTL and iTL measures should be monitored in association with physical tests, to provide a comprehensive understanding of the training process.
Are joint venture partners more opportunistic in a more volatile environment

This study examines how joint venture partners' opportunism is influenced by environmental volatility in a drastically changing emerging economy. Building on transaction cost and information‐processing theories, we develop the hypothesis that opportunism increases to cope with industry structural instability, information unverifiability, and law unenforceability, the three interrelated yet distinct characteristics that jointly describe environmental volatility in an emerging economy. Our analysis of 188 foreign joint ventures in an emerging market suggests that opportunism increases with information unverifiability and law unenforceability. These relationships are even stronger when joint ventures depend more on the host country environment, but weaker when joint ventures operate in faster‐growing industries. Finally, opportunism is found to play a mediating role in the relationship between environmental volatility and joint venture performance. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
3D human action recognition based on the Spatial-Temporal Moving Skeleton Descriptor

With the popularization of the Kinect sensor, human actions can be recognized based on the 3D skeletal information. In this paper, the Spatial-Temporal Moving Skeleton Descriptor (STMSD) is proposed by the fusion of three complementary features which are the Relative Geometric Velocity (RGV) between body parts, Relative Joint Positions (RJP), and Joint Angles (JA). The STMSD descriptor gives a complete view of the body skeleton in space and time. Among the three features, the Relative Geometric Velocity (RGV) is first proposed in our work. Inspired by the relative geometry using the Lie group and the Lie algebra, RGV describes the variation rates of body transformations which include 3D rotations and translations. Then interpolation and normalization are applied in frame descriptors. After the temporal modeling, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is utilized. Experimental results on three datasets show that our approach performs better than existing action recognition approaches, including skeleton-based and other types.
Celebrity Entrepreneurship: Insights for New Venture Strategy

In this study we investigate a relatively new empirical phenomenon: Celebrity Entrepreneurship. By conducting three experiments on a total of 314 participants, designed to reflect a new venture promotional setting, we find support for our hypothesis that celebrity entrepreneurs are more effective communicators than ordinary celebrity endorsers. This is apparently due to an increase in their perceived involvement with the companies they endorse. Specifically, our results show that increasing levels of perceived involvement has a positive effect on attitudes towards new ventures and advertisements.
Executable LOTOS: Using PARLOG to Implement an FDT

A practical investigation of the feasibility of implementing core constructs of the LOTOS speciﬁcation language in the PARLOG programming language has been made. A program has been written in PARLOG to translate simple LOTOS speciﬁcations into executable PARLOG code. A single set of these speciﬁcations is used to illustrate the techniques employed to re-express LOTOS constructs as PARLOG procedures and processes. The translator is based on the LOTOS BNF. A large subset of LOTOS constructs which can be mapped on to PARLOG is handled by the translator.
Intermediary roles in local mobile advertising: Findings from a Finnish study

This research examines the intermediary roles that advertising agencies perform between small local advertisers and a mobile advertising service provider. The intermediary roles have been left unexplored, although the agencies have influence on their client's decisions to use new media. A real-life experiment of new mobile advertising system was conducted, and interview data from eight advertising agencies were collected. The findings show that agencies may play three types of roles. In playing connecting, mediating, and inhibiting roles, agencies influence the value created not only for their clients' but also for themselves and the advertising media provider.
Managing risks in the supply chain using the AHP method

Purpose – The aim of the research is to provide a method to evaluate supply chain risks that stand in the way of the supply chain objectives.Design/methodology/approach – An analytical hierarchy process model is proposed to identify supply chain risk factors with a view to improving the objective of customer value. The two phases of the method are the prioritization of supply chain objectives; and the selection of risk indicators. A case study is also presented.Findings – The appreciation of the most critical supply chain risks comes from careful evaluations of the impacts and a consideration of the cause‐effect relationships. The involvement of key managers is essential. In the case study the two most divergent evaluations were from the logistics manager and the sales manager.Research limitations/implications – Further application in various companies and industry sectors would be helpful to compare different cases and findings.Practical implications – The model allows for flexibility in using (and the f.
The Escherichia coli SeqA protein destabilizes mutant DnaA204 protein

In wild‐type Escherichia coli cells, initiation of DNA replication is tightly coupled to cell growth. In slowly growing dnaA204 (Ts) mutant cells, the cell mass at initiation and its variability is increased two‐ to threefold relative to wild type. Here, we show that the DnaA protein concentration was two‐ to threefold lower in the dnaA204 mutant compared with the wild‐type strain. The reason for the DnaA protein deficiency was found to be a rapid degradation of the mutant protein. Absence of SeqA protein stabilized the DnaA204 protein, increased the DnaA protein concentration and normalized the initiation mass in the dnaA204 mutant cells. During rapid growth, the dnaA204 mutant displayed cell cycle parameters similar to wild‐type cells as well as a normal DnaA protein concentration, even though the DnaA204 protein was highly unstable. Apparently, the increased DnaA protein synthesis compensated for the protein degradation under these growth conditions, in which the doubling time was of the same order of magnitude as the half‐life of the protein. Our results suggest that the DnaA204 protein has essentially wild‐type activity at permissive temperature but, as a result of instability, the protein is present at lower concentration under certain growth conditions. The basis for the stabilization in the absence of SeqA is not known. We suggest that the formation of stable DnaA–DNA complexes is enhanced in the absence of SeqA, thereby protecting the DnaA protein from degradation.