Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dexamethasone induces apoptosis of progenitor cells in the subventricular zone and dentate gyrus of developing rat brain

The use of dexamethasone in premature infants to prevent and/or treat bronchopulmonary dysplasia adversely affects neurocognitive development and is associated with cerebral palsy. The underlying mechanisms of these effects are multifactorial and likely include apoptosis. The objective of this study was to confirm whether dexamethasone causes apoptosis in different regions of the developing rat brain. On postnatal day 2, pups in each litter were randomly divided into the dexamethasone‐treated (n = 91) or vehicle‐treated (n = 92) groups. Rat pups in the dexamethasone group received tapering doses of dexamethasone on postnatal days 3–6 (0.5, 0.25, 0.125, and 0.06 mg/kg/day, respectively). Dexamethasone treatment significantly decreased the gain of body and brain weight and increased brain caspase‐3 activity, DNA fragments, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase‐mediated dUTP nick end labeling, and cleaved caspse‐3‐positive cells at 24 hr after treatment. Dexamethasone increased cleaved caspse‐3‐positive cells in the cortex, thalamus, hippocampus, cerebellum, dentate gyrus, and subventricular zone. Double‐immunofluorescence studies show that progenitor cells in the subventricular zone and dentate gyrus preferentially undergo apoptosis following dexamethasone exposure. These results indicate that dexamethasone‐induced apoptosis in immature cells in developing brain is one of the mechanisms of its neurodegenerative effects in newborn rats. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Determinants for the composition of the board of directors in SMEs: evidence from Brazil

The objective of this study was to analyse the determinants for the composition of board of directors of publicly traded SMEs in ABC region of Metropolitan Sao Paulo. The study is of great relevance in Brazil in that, it contributes to solve problem of lack of publications. Similar studies analysed the sizes and types of boards, financial performance, independence and none of them focused on composition of the boards in SMEs. In light of this, we question which factors were determinant for the composition of the board of directors of private publicly traded SMEs? We surveyed 60 enterprises from the industrial association of ABC region of which 20 were our respondents. Our findings make us conclude that the main determinants for the composition of the board of directors in private publicly traded SMEs in the ABC region of Metropolitan Sao Paulo are the CEOs and life cycle of the enterprise.
Optimal design of mushroom-like EBG structures for antenna mutual coupling reduction in 2.4 GHz ISM band

A double element 900 bent monopole antenna system with mushroom-like electromagnetic band-gap (EBG) structures introduced between elements has been studied in this paper using a Finite Element Method (FEM) in order to demonstrate the concept of EBG mutual decoupling. The EBG structures were designed to have a band gap centered around the bandstop frequency of 2.45 GHz. The mutual coupling coefficient s21 was simulated over a range of frequencies around the band gap for some specific designs and electric field distribution on XY plane for optimal EBG design was also computed. Inserting a number of five EBG unit cells with patch sizes of 8 mm, gap between patches of 4 mm and vias cross sectional area of 3.515 mm2, the mutual coupling between antennas improved from -24 dB to -37.4 dB at bandstop resonance frequency of 2.45 GHz.
Northern winter stratospheric temperature and ozone responses to ENSO inferred from an ensemble of Chemistry Climate Models

The connection between the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Northern polar stratosphere has been established from observations and atmospheric modeling. Here a systematic inter-comparison of the sensitivity of the modeled stratosphere to ENSO in Chemistry Climate Models (CCMs) is reported. This work uses results from a number of the CCMs included in the 2006 ozone assessment. In the lower stratosphere, the mean of all model simulations reports a warming of the polar vortex during strong ENSO events in February-March, consistent with but smaller than the estimate from satellite observations and ERA40 reanalysis. The anomalous warming is associated with an anomalous dynamical increase of column ozone north of 70 degrees N that is accompanied by coherent column ozone decrease in the Tropics, in agreement with that deduced from the NIWA column ozone database, implying an increased residual circulation in the mean of all model simulations during ENSO. The spread in the model responses is partly due to the large internal stratospheric variability and it is shown that it crucially depends on the representation of the tropospheric ENSO teleconnection in the models.
The Relationship between Citizenship Acquisition and Ethnic Identity of Immigrant Women in Taiwan

In the last few decades, many southeast-Asia women migrate to Taiwan by marriage, and it usually takes several years for them to acquire Taiwanese citizenship. This study investigates the relationship between their citizenship acquisition and whether they develop Taiwanese identities, and how does it affect their ethnical identity towards their original ethnics. Furthermore, the present study also explores that whether citizenship acquisition help the immigrant women to explore the host society further and make commitment to it, or the identification towards mainstream Taiwanese society is only symbolic and superficial? One hundred and ninety-two immigrant women were measured using Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure-Revised and a global 10-point ethnic identity question. Correlation tests, t-test, and hierarchical regression were performed to answer the above questions. The results revealed that citizenship acquisition does help immigrant women to identify with Taiwanese society, but it does not affect how they identify with their own ethnics. Furthermore, the results also indicated that acquiring citizenship would not help these immigrant women become involved in deeper cultural exploration of Taiwan nor would it encourage them to make commitments to the host society. Keywords—Immigrants, international marriage, ethnic identity, Taiwan.
Earnings Quality and Perceived Auditor Independence: Irrelevance of Nonaudit Services Time Period

Substantial growth in consulting services provided by auditors in 1990’s has been highlighted as a threat to auditor independence, which has been argued to be the cause of changes in investors’ perception of auditor independence. Research based on audit and nonaudit fees disclosed in 2000’s provide consistent results. This study proposes that the perceived auditor independence decreased with increase in auditor provided nonaudit services even before recent controversial environmental changes. Based on nonaudit fees from 1978-80, the evidence indicates that smaller earnings response coefficients are associated with higher auditor provided nonaudit services. These results suggest impairment of auditor independence by the provisions of nonaudit services irrespective of the time period.
NMF-based temporal feature integration for acoustic event classification

In this paper, we propose a new front-end for Acoustic Event Classiﬁcation tasks (AEC) based on the combination of the temporal feature integration technique called Filter Bank Co-efﬁcients (FC) and Non-Negative Matrix Factorization (NMF). FC aims to capture the dynamic structure in the short-term features by means of the summarization of the periodogram of each short-term feature dimension in several frequency bands using a predeﬁned ﬁlter bank. As the commonly used ﬁlter bank has been devised for other tasks (such as music genre classiﬁcation), it can be suboptimal for AEC. In order to overcome this draw-back, we propose an unsupervised method based on NMF for learning the ﬁlters which collect the most relevant temporal information in the short-time features for AEC. The experiments show that the features obtained with this method achieve significant improvements in the classiﬁcation performance of a Support Vector Machine (SVM) based AEC system in comparison with the baseline FC features.
Neural Mechanisms of Cognitive Dissonance (Revised): An EEG Study

Cognitive dissonance theory suggests that our preferences are modulated by the mere act of choosing. A choice between two similarly valued alternatives creates psychological tension (cognitive dissonance) that is reduced by a postdecisional reevaluation of the alternatives. We measured EEG of human subjects during rest and free-choice paradigm. Our study demonstrates that choices associated with stronger cognitive dissonance trigger a larger negative frontocentral evoked response similar to error-related negativity, which has in turn been implicated in general performance monitoring. Furthermore, the amplitude of the evoked response is correlated with the reevaluation of the alternatives. We also found a link between individual neural dynamics (long-range temporal correlations) of the frontocentral cortices during rest and follow-up neural and behavioral effects of cognitive dissonance. Individuals with stronger resting-state long-range temporal correlations demonstrated a greater postdecisional reevaluation of the alternatives and larger evoked brain responses associated with stronger cognitive dissonance. Thus, our results suggest that cognitive dissonance is reflected in both resting-state and choice-related activity of the prefrontal cortex as part of the general performance-monitoring circuitry. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Contrary to traditional decision theory, behavioral studies repeatedly demonstrate that our preferences are modulated by the mere act of choosing. Difficult choices generate psychological (cognitive) dissonance, which is reduced by the postdecisional devaluation of unchosen options. We found that decisions associated with a higher level of cognitive dissonance elicited a stronger negative frontocentral deflection that peaked ∼60 ms after the response. This activity shares similar spatial and temporal features as error-related negativity, the electrophysiological correlate of performance monitoring. Furthermore, the frontocentral resting-state activity predicted the individual magnitude of preference change and the strength of cognitive dissonance-related neural activity.
Ethnocentric tendencies of Indian consumers: impact on preference for domestic versus foreign products

India is witnessing a plethora of foreign and domestic products competing against each other in its retail market. In order to understand how ethnocentrism among Indian consumers leads to attitudes toward foreign/domestic products, this study aims to understand the antecedents (socio-psychological and demographic) of consumer ethnocentric tendencies (CET) among Indian consumers, the impact of ethnocentrism on attitude toward domestic versus foreign product and service, and the impact of a moderator (perceived economic threat) on the relationship between ethnocentrism and attitudes. Using a sample of 800 Indian consumers, the relationships among variables were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling (SEM) using one product (soap) and one service (mobile phone service) category. The findings suggest that Indian consumers who are ethnocentric prefer domestic product/service to foreign product/service. Ethnocentrism of Indian consumers is influenced by education, income, cultural openness, and collectivism. The relationship between ethnocentrism and attitudes was moderated by perceived economic threat. Implications are provided for both Indian and foreign marketers to successfully promote their products to Indian consumers.
Effective motivation practices that could enhance employee performance in the mining industry in Lao PDR

In the real world of business today, the most important and difficult job faced by managers is to manage people. Human resource management (HRM) plays a significant role in terms of sustaining a competitive advantage in different fields of business. One of the critical elements of human resource management is motivating employees in companies. This research focuses on HRM especially employee motivation in the mining sector in Laos. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that influence employee performance, with a specific focus on employees who work in the mining sector in Laos. The study aims to develop suitable motivation practices that can be applied to mining companies in Laos. To achieve this aim, qualitative data was collected through in depth face-to-face interviews with 15 people who hold management and non-management positions from two large mining companies in Lao PDR. The subsequent data analysis and discussion has emphasis on key factors relating to employee performance within the organisation, the value of employee motivation to the organisation, and the motivation approach which can be a solution for the management team to formulate reward systems for mining companies in Laos. It has been found that managers and employees both agreed that motivation has a positive impact on employee performance. A number of employees are dissatisfied with not only monetary incentives but also other non-financial rewards such as safety, social, supervision and equity. The study suggests a suitable motivation model for the mining sector in Laos to apply for improving the effectiveness of employee performance. Limitations of the research and directions for future research are also provided.
Personal computer communications on intrabuilding power line LAN's using CSMA with priority acknowledgements

Intrabuilding power lines provide a readily available and easily accessed network for personal computer (PC) communications within buildings. The use and performance of carrier-sense multiple access with priority acknowledgements (CSMA/PA) on such networks is described. The communication characteristics of intrabuilding power-line channels are summarized and found to suffer from highly variable and unpredictable signal-to-noise ratios and bit-error rates. The advantages of CSMA/PA relative to polling and token-passing access protocols are discussed. The architecture of a CSMA/PA implementation is described. The choice of the best data-link packet length is determined from throughput measurements to be approximately 1000 bits. Delay-throughput performance is measured at 1.2, 2.4, 4.8, and 9.6 kb/s using a phase-shift-keyed (PSK) spread-spectrum modem. Results are included for the potentially difficult problem of transmission across power phases. A discussion of results obtained and their implications for PC intrabuilding communications is also included. >
Bridging Western management theories and Japanese management practices: case of the Toyota Way model

Subject area Manufacturing, Western management theories and Japanese management practices. Student level/applicability This case can be used in project management or management-related courses at tertiary institutions at Undergraduate and Postgraduate level. Case overview This case provides students with an opportunity to find out what make Toyota so successful in manufacturing through its famous production system as well as the underlying Toyota Way principles. All students are expected to understand the Toyota Way model with a balanced view that goes beyond a set of lean tools such as just-in-time. This case opens a historical account for the Toyota Way model by connecting with possible Western management theories and Japanese management practices. Expected learning outcomes It is expected to significantly benefit students with industry experience with the intention of initiating appropriate changes in their own industry and/or organization by applying what they have learnt from the Toyota Way, through bridging with Western management theories. Supplementary materials Teaching notes.
Short-Chain Chitin Oligomers: Promoters of Plant Growth

Chitin is the second most abundant biopolymer in nature after cellulose, and it forms an integral part of insect exoskeletons, crustacean shells, krill and the cell walls of fungal spores, where it is present as a high-molecular-weight molecule. In this study, we showed that a chitin oligosaccharide of lower molecular weight (tetramer) induced genes in Arabidopsis that are principally related to vegetative growth, development and carbon and nitrogen metabolism. Based on plant responses to this chitin tetramer, a low-molecular-weight chitin mix (CHL) enriched to 92% with dimers (2mer), trimers (3mer) and tetramers (4mer) was produced for potential use in biotechnological processes. Compared with untreated plants, CHL-treated plants had increased in vitro fresh weight (10%), radicle length (25%) and total carbon and nitrogen content (6% and 8%, respectively). Our data show that low-molecular-weight forms of chitin might play a role in nature as bio-stimulators of plant growth, and they are also a known direct source of carbon and nitrogen for soil biomass. The biochemical properties of the CHL mix might make it useful as a non-contaminating bio-stimulant of plant growth and a soil restorer for greenhouses and fields.
Electronic cigarette nicotine delivery can exceed that of combustible cigarettes: a preliminary report

Introduction Electronic cigarettes (ECIGs) aerosolise a liquid that usually contains propylene glycol and/or vegetable glycerine, flavourants and the dependence-producing drug, nicotine, in various concentrations. This laboratory study examined the relationship between liquid nicotine concentration and plasma nicotine concentration and puffing behaviour in experienced ECIG users. Methods Sixteen ECIG-experienced participants used a 3.3-Volt ECIG battery attached to a 1.5-Ohm dual-coil ‘cartomiser’ loaded with 1 mL of a flavoured propylene glycol/vegetable glycerine liquid to complete four sessions, at least 2 days apart, that differed by nicotine concentration (0, 8, 18 or 36 mg/mL). In each session, participants completed two 10-puff ECIG-use bouts (30 s puff interval) separated by 60 min. Venous blood was sampled to determine plasma nicotine concentration. Puff duration, volume and average flow rate were measured. Results Immediately after bout 1, mean plasma nicotine concentration was 5.5 ng/mL (SD=7.7) for 0 mg/mL liquid, with significantly (p<0.05) higher mean concentrations observed for the 8 (mean=17.8 ng/mL, SD=14.6), 18 (mean=25.9 ng/mL, SD=17.5) and 36 mg/mL (mean=30.2 ng/mL; SD=20.0) concentrations; a similar pattern was observed for bout 2. For bout 1, at 36 mg/mL, the mean post- minus pre-bout difference was 24.1 ng/mL (SD=18.3). Puff topography data were consistent with previous results and revealed few reliable differences across conditions. Discussion This study demonstrates a relationship between ECIG liquid nicotine concentration and user plasma nicotine concentration in experienced ECIG users. Nicotine delivery from some ECIGs may exceed that of a combustible cigarette. The rationale for this higher level of nicotine delivery is uncertain.
On Effective Speed-Up and Long Proofs of Trivial Theorems in Formal Theories

— In this note we give a very simple proof which shows that in many interesting formai mathematical théories, axiomatizable as well as decidable ones, for every given formalization we can effectively find infinité subsets of trivially true theorems which require as long proof s in the given formalism as the hardest theorems of the theory. Thus showing that for these théories every formalism is doomed to be blind to the triviality of infinité sets of theorems, which can be found effectively. Furthermore, it follows that for ail {sujficiently, large) constructable tape and time bounds there exist sets whose récognition can be effectively speeded up on infinité subsets and that such sets appear naturally. Thus showing that for many concrete problems every algorithm can be effectively sped-up on infinité subsets, L INFORMAL INTRODUCTION The main purpose of this note is to give a simple proof which shows that in many interesting mathematical théories for every formai (mechanical) proof method, there exists infinité sets of "trivially true" theorems which require as long proofs in the given formalism as the hardest theorems. Surprisingly, some of these infinité sets of trivially true,theorems with long proofs, can be found effectively for every given proof procedure and thus the proof procedure can be replaced by another one which shortens the proofs of infinitely many theorems without increasing the length of proofs for any others. For related work, see [2,8]. These results hold for many axiomatizable as well as decidable mathematical théories. They also show that there exist recursive functions and recursive sets for which every algorithm Computing them can be effectively speeded-up infinitely often. Furthermore, these recursive functions appear naturally, and we observe that spécifie combinatorial problems fall in the class of problems for which every algorithm can be effectively speeded up. Thus for many computations there do not exist optimal algorithms and every given one can be effectively speeded up infinitely often. (*) Reçu septembre 1975. (*) This research has been supported in part by National Science Foundation Grants GJ-33171 X and DCR 75-09433. () Department of Computer Science Cornell University, Ithaca. Revue Française d'Automatique, Informatique et Recherche Opérationnelle n° mars 1976
Features of mono‐ and multinucleated bone resorbing cells of the zebrafish Danio rerio and their contribution to skeletal development, remodeling, and growth

To provide basic data about bone resorbing cells in the skeleton during the life cycle of Danio rerio, larvae, juveniles, and adults (divided into six age groups) were studied by histological procedures and by demonstration of the osteoclast marker enzyme tartrate‐resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP). Special attention was paid to the lower jaw, which is a standard element for fish bone studies. The presence of osteoclasts at endosteal surfaces of growing bones of all animals older than 20 days reveals that resorption is an important part of zebrafish skeletal development. The first bone‐resorbing cells to form are mononucleated. They appear in 20‐day‐old animals concurrently in the craniofacial skeleton and vertebral column. Mononucleated osteoclasts are predominant in juveniles. Regional differences characterize the appearance of osteoclasts; at thin skeletal elements (neural arches, nasal) mononucleated osteoclasts are predominant even in adults. Multinucleated bone‐resorbing cells were first observed in 40‐day‐old animals and are the predominant osteoclast type of adults. Both mono‐ and multinucleated osteoclasts contribute to allometric bone growth but multinucleated osteoclasts are also involved in lacunar bone resorption and repeated bone remodeling. Resorption of the dentary follows the pattern described above (mononucleated osteoclasts precede multinucleated cells) and includes the partial removal of Meckel's cartilage. Bone marrow spaces created by resorption are usually filled with adipose tissue. In conclusion, bone resorption is primarily subjected to the demands of growth, the appearance of mono‐ and multinucleated osteoclasts is site‐ and age‐related, and bone remodeling occurs. The results are discussed in relation to findings in other teleosts and in mammals. J. Morphol. 250:197–207, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.