Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pathophysiologic implications of membrane phospholipid asymmetry in blood cells.

MANY STUDIES HAVE led to the concept that membrane phospholipid asymmetry is ubiquitous. In general terms, the outer leaflet of eukaryotic plasma membranes is formed predominantly with the cholinephospholipids (sphingomyelin and phosphatidylcholine [PC]), whereas the majority of the
Motivations and obstacles to university industry cooperation (UIC): a Mexican case

Within the context of linkage between universities and the productive sector in Mexico, this article seeks to answer the following questions: i) which are the principal motivations for researchers at universities to carry out technological research and to seek ties to industry? ii) which are the main motivations for industrial entrepreneurs to establish cooperation with universities to develop technology? and iii) which are the main barriers to a healthy relationship between both institutions? Our answers are based on data from two sources: (a) an exploratory survey of 31 researchers at the National University of Mexico and of 28 Mexican entrepreneurs, half of whom had previous experience in collaborative projects; and, (b) a subsequent panel discussion among questionnaire respondents designed to elicit in-depth qualitative data concerning motivations and obstacles to university-industry cooperation. The authors present the factors identified in the study as key elements in the development of liaisons between the two sectors in Latin American countries, and argue the need to rethink our conceptions of motivations and barriers within a theoretical framework of interinstitutional communications and organizational cultural change.
Abundance and Diversity of Archaea in Heavy-Metal-Contaminated Soils

ABSTRACT The impact of heavy-metal contamination on archaean communities was studied in soils amended with sewage sludge contaminated with heavy metals to varying extents. Fluorescent in situ hybridization showed a decrease in the percentage of Archaea from 1.3% ± 0.3% of 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole-stained cells in untreated soil to below the detection limit in soils amended with heavy metals. A comparison of the archaean communities of the different plots by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis revealed differences in the structure of the archaean communities in soils with increasing heavy-metal contamination. Analysis of cloned 16S ribosomal DNA showed close similarities to a unique and globally distributed lineage of the kingdom Crenarchaeota that is phylogenetically distinct from currently characterized crenarchaeotal species.
Regulatory and logistical issues influencing access to antineoplastic and supportive care medications for children with cancer in developing countries

Globally there are numerous impediments, both logistical, regulatory and more recently global drug shortages, hindering pediatric access to therapeutic drugs of all types. Efforts to reduce barriers are ongoing and are especially important in low and middle income countries and for children requiring treatment of conditions such as those encountered in pediatric oncology characterized by the risk of life threatening treatment failures. Progress has been made through the efforts of the World Health Organization and regulators in the US and Europe to encourage the development of therapeutic agents for use in pediatrics and measures taken have fostered the availability of stronger pediatric data to guide therapeutic decisions. Nonetheless, pharmaceuticals remain a global commodity, subject to regulation by the World Trade Organization and this has often had detrimental effects in low and middle income countries. This article emphasizes the need for closer international collaboration to address the barriers currently impeding access to antineoplastic and supportive care medicines for children. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2014; 61:1513–1517. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Modeling Hebb Learning Rule for Unsupervised Learning

This paper presents to model the Hebb learning rule and proposes a neuron learning machine (NLM). Hebb learning rule describes the plasticity of the connection between presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons and it is unsupervised itself. It formulates the updating gradient of the connecting weight in artificial neural networks. In this paper, we construct an objective function via modeling the Hebb rule. We make a hypothesis to simplify the model and introduce a correlation based constraint according to the hypothesis and stability of solutions. By analysis from the perspectives of maintaining abstract information and increasing the energy based probability of observed data, we find that this biologically inspired model has the capability of learning useful features. NLM can also be stacked to learn hierarchical features and reformulated into convolutional version to extract features from 2-dimensional data. Experiments on singlelayer and deep networks demonstrate the effectiveness of NLM in unsupervised feature learning.
Superconductor-semiconductor interaction effects in mesoscopic hybrid structures.

We have studied transport in mesoscopic superconductor-semiconductor hybrid structures consisting of two-dimensional arrays of micrometer-sized niobium dots deposited on high-mobility InAs:GaSb quantum wells. The grating arrays were designed to have a dot size and spacing of 3, 1.5, and 1 {mu}m, so as to be smaller than the electron mean free path of {approximately}5 {mu}m. At low temperatures all the structures show clear evidence of Andreev reflection while the two smaller period samples also exhibit a proximity-induced superconducting phase. We present measurements of the differential resistance at different temperatures and magnetic fields. For fields greater than 0.3 T, different features are observed in the differential resistance which we attribute to nonuniform flux penetration around the superconducting dots. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society. }
Modernising pathology services: modelling effective IT project collaboration

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to adapt a causal modelling approach to investigate the organisational collaboration and information technology (IT) project management issues concerning the planning and adoption of inter‐organisational IT systems across NHS hospital pathology departments.Design/methodology/approach – The researchers adopted an interpretive research approach utilising qualitative methods and in particular template analysis. Themes and categories were initially derived from a review of the literature based on critical success factors from enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects.Findings – A causal loop modelling approach was adapted to define key linkages between success factors. This highlighted virtuous and vicious cycles associated with IT project management and team collaboration – influencing the adoption process of large‐scale integrated IT systems.Research limitations/implications – Single case studies can be problematic in terms of generalising from the research. The stud.
Applying the Kuhn–Tucker model to estimate the value of recreational ecosystem services in Sicily

This paper applies the Kuhn–Tucker model to estimate recreation demand of parks in Sicily. We estimate a fixed coefficient specification and a random coefficient specification to take into account heterogeneity across visitors. Estimates suggest a diversity of preferences across the population and that parks with higher level of quality attributes are more likely to be visited. We also simulate two sets of hypothetical policy scenarios to evaluate and compare the recreational value of each park and the welfare impacts of changes in a quality attribute.
Positive Versus Negative Perfectionism in Psychopathology

This article reviews the concepts of positive and negative perfectionism and the dual process model of perfectionism outlined by Slade and Owens (1998). The authors acknowledge that the dual process model represents a conceptual advance in the study of perfectionism and that Slade and Owens should be commended for identifying testable hypotheses and future research directions. However, the authors take issue with the notion that there are two types of perfectionism, with one type of perfectionism representing a “normal” or “healthy” form of perfectionism. They suggest that positive perfectionism is motivated, at least in part, by an avoidance orientation and fear of failure, and recent attempts to define and conceptualize positive perfectionism may have blurred the distinction between perfectionism and conscientiousness. Research findings that question the adaptiveness of positive forms of perfectionism are highlighted, and key issues for future research are identified.
Central Neurocytoma: A Synopsis of Clinical and Histological Features

The central neurocytoma is a supratentorial, often calcified brain tumour affecting young adults and is typically located in the lateral ventricles in the region of the foramen of Monro. Clinically, the tumour causes signs of increased intracranial pressure, visual and mental disturbances and, occasionally, pyramidal or endocrine symptoms. By light microscopy, the tumour is composed of small round cells in a delicate fibrillary matrix. Tumour cells consistently show features of neuronal differentiation by electron microscopy (synapses, dense‐core vesicles, presynaptic clear vesicles, specialized synaptic junctions) and immunoreactivity for synaptophysin and other neuronal marker proteins. The tumour can be totally removed in nearly half of the cases. After incomplete surgical resection neurocytomas may recur but because of their low proliferation potential, radio‐ or chemotherapy are not generally recommended. Postoperative recurrence‐free survival times of up to 19 years have been reported. Neurocytomas constitute nearly one half of supratentorial intraventricular tumours in adults but amount to less than 1% of all tumours of the central nervous system and its coverings.
The effect of circulatory occlusion on the glycogen phosphorylase‐synthetase system in human skeletal muscle.

The effect of circulatory occlusion upon the glycogen phosphorylase‐synthetase system in intact human muscle at rest has been investigated using the needle biopsy technique. The fraction of phosphorylase in the a form was 26% before occlusion and decreased to 9% after 40 min of occlusion. Synthetase I activity was unchanged during occlusion. After 40 min of occlusion the content of phosphocreatine was decreased by 40%, with a corresponding increase in creatine and inorganic phosphate (Pi). The observed glycogenolytic rate increased during occlusion up to 0.8 mmol glycosyl units kg‐1 dry muscle min‐1. An intracellular Pi concentration at rest of 2.0 mmol l‐1 was calculated from the activities of phosphorylase a and synthetase I assuming that under these conditions they are equal. It is concluded that the glycogenolytic rate during occlusion is a function of both the fraction of phosphorylase in the a form and the availability of Pi at the active site of the enzyme.
A Theory of Privatisation

Public enterprises around the world have proved to be highly inefficient, primarily because they pursue strategies, such as excess employment, that satisfy the political objectives of politicians who control them. Privatization of public enterprises can raise the cost to politicians of influencing them, since subsidies to private firms necessary to force them to remain inefficient are politically harder to sustain than wasted profits of the state firms. In this way, privatization leads to efficient restructuring of firms. Moreover, privatization is more effective when combined with a tight monetary policy and when the new owners of firms are profit maximizing investors, rather than their employees or even managers. Copyright 1996 by Royal Economic Society.
A structured approach to integrating audits to create organisational efficiencies: ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 audits

Although some articles have been written about integrated audits, they do not examine combining audits for ISO 9001 (quality management systems) and ISO 27001 (information security management systems). This topic is relevant across a wide spectrum of the Quality Management and research community, not to mention external auditors and staff with operations and information technology responsibilities. Furthermore, it provides insights into the new version of PAS 99 (specification for integrated management systems (IMS)). Quality Management practitioners may not be fully aware of the affordances of an IMS and combining internal audits. However, integrated audits make it possible to achieve efficiencies in the audit process whilst maintaining the benefits gained from audits such as process improvements. Clusters of research propositions were derived from a literature review comprising academic and professional sources and tested within a commercial organisation. The sample comprised internal auditors, auditees and external auditors. The findings and conclusions point to a reduction in audit effort, the number of audits and the audit resource required. A framework for establishing integrated audits is formulated.
[Ultrastructural study of the neuronal lipofuscin--an autopsy case of familial Alzheimer's disease].

This work is to study the ultrastructure of the neuronal lipofuscin that occurred in the brain and the spinal cord of an autopsy case of familial Alzheimer's disease and to compare with those in several other diseases. The patient was a 46-year-old male, whose father and elder brother were diagnosed as Alzheimer's disease and died at the age of 42, respectively. He became afflicted with forgetfulness and disorientation at the age of 36. He developed a grand mal seizure at the age of 39 and thereafter, his clinical course was characterized by pyramidal signs, dysarthria and the symptoms of Gerstmann's syndrome, visuo-spatial agnosia, apraxia for dressing and constructive apraxia. He became bedridden at 45 years old and died of general prostration. The brain weighed 1,250 g, and the cerebral cortex showed mild atrophy. The neuronal loss, senile plaques and Alzheimer's neurofibrillary tangles were found throughout the cerebral cortex. The senile plaques were also found in the basal ganglia, the cerebellar medulla and cortex. There was severe amyloid angiopathy in the occipital and cerebellar cortices. The specimens for electron microscopy were taken from the cerebral cortex, the basal ganglia, the thalamus, the midbrain, the medulla oblongata, the cerebellum and the spinal cord. The ultrastructural study revealed three different types of the neuronal lipofuscin, though different stainability between these lipofuscin granules could not be manifested by several histochemical methods. Their morphological differences seemed to be based on the sites of the central nervous system. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
High-speed estimation of MIMO system capacity using a hierarchical approach and preprocessing digital maps

We propose a high-speed and highly-accurate estimation method for area-dependent MIMO system capacity. The proposed method employs a hierarchical approach, in which the evaluation area is divided into two groups based on the contribution of diffracted components estimated by a simple ray-launching method without considering the effect of diffraction, and then appropriate estimation method is applied for each group. The method also employs a novel digital map preprocessing that combines adjacent structured objects with similar heights and treats them as one object, which enabled to reduce the number of objects used in a ray-launching analysis. It has been confirmed that the proposed method calculated 58 times faster than the conventional full ray-launching method, enabling efficient radio planning of upcoming MIMO-based wireless communication systems.
Labour Force Developments in the Euro Area Since the 1980s

This paper aims, first, at assessing the relative importance of working age population and participation rates to explain labour force developments in the euro area between 1983 and 2000. It also compares participation rates in the euro area vis-a-vis the US, considering age and gender groups. It shows that the effect of population growth on labour force developments is losing importance relative to the effects of changes in the participation rate. Indeed, in the last few years, the effects of changes in the participation rate have exceeded those of the increase in working age population. This trend is expected to continue in the coming years. As regards the comparison of the euro area with the US, it shows a continuing large difference in women’s participation rate and among the youngest and oldest men’s age groups in the US versus the euro area, giving room for future positive contributions coming from participation in the euro area.
Sortilin, a novel APOE receptor implicated in Alzheimer disease

In the brain, apolipoprotein E (APOE) delivers cholesterol-rich lipoproteins to neurons to support synaptogenesis and maintenance of synaptic connections. Three APOE alleles exist in the human population with ε4 being an Alzheimer disease (AD) risk gene and ε2 being protective relative to the common ε3 variant. Many hypotheses have been advanced concerning allele-specific effects of APOE on neurodegeneration including effects on Aβ clearance, synaptic transmission, or neurotoxicity. Central to most proposed APOE functions is its interaction with receptors that mediate cellular uptake of this ligand. Several members of the LDL receptor gene family have been implicated as APOE receptors in the (patho)physiology of APOE in the brain, yet their specific modes of action in AD remain controversial. Recently, the pro-neurotrophin receptor sortilin has been identified as a novel APOE receptor in neurons. Ablation of sortilin expression in mice results in accumulation of APOE and Aβ in the brain. Moreover, primary neurons lacking sortilin exhibit significantly impaired uptake of APOE/Aβ complexes. Despite increased brain APOE levels, sortilin-deficient animals recapitulate anomalies in brain lipid homeostasis seen in APOE null mice, indicating functional deficiency in APOE uptake pathways. Taken together, these findings suggest a link between Aβ catabolism and pro-neurotrophin signaling converging on this receptor pathway.
The Role of Shareholders in the Modern American Corporation

This chapter from the forthcoming Research Handbook on the Economics of Corporate Law (Claire Hill & Brett McDonnell, eds.) examines the role of shareholders in the modern American public corporation. The chapter starts with the Berle and Means (1932) problem of the separation of ownership and control, but notes that the rise of institutional investors has changed the situation. Shareholders have three main sets of rights through which they can protect themselves: the right to vote, to sell, and to sue. Each of these rights has evolved significantly in recent years. The chapter describes some of the changes and debates, and also briefly addresses the question of the proper beneficiaries of corporate decisions.
CMOS technology trends and economics

CMOS has become the mainstream IC technology. Extending well into the sub-0.1- mu m regime, its potential provides enormous chip complexities for integration of complete systems on one chip. A number of general trends in the development and manufacturing of CMOS technologies and ICs are discussed. It is argued that unrestricted availability of this technology is of strategic importance for the European high-technology industry. Exploding development costs and investments per technology generation require global cooperation, particularly for the relatively small European IC manufacturers to survive in this key technology. Trends in the development of 64-Mb and 256-Mb DRAMs, optical lithography processes, multilayer resist technologies, retrograde-well structures for CMOS device isolation, low-resistive and dense interconnection systems with low capacitances and silicon-on-insulator technology for the development of CMOS devices are described. <<ETX>>
Mean arterial pressure and systolic blood pressure for detection of hypotension during hemapheresis: Implications for patients with baseline hypertension

Mean arterial pressure (MAP) has been characterized as a more sensitive and physiologically appropriate hemodynamic parameter in the detection of hemapheresis‐related hypotension, resulting in a much closer correlation with the presence of symptomatic hypotension. Patients were enrolled over a 12‐month period and data collected on any previous diagnosis of hypertension, antihypertensive therapy used, indication for apheresis, age decile, and gender. Baseline vital signs, any hypotensive signs or symptoms observed, and the patient's vital signs at the time of any hypotensive episode were recorded. Patients were assigned to a subgroup, sensitivity and specificity analysis performed, positive likelihood ratios calculated, receiver operating characteristic curves constructed, and ideal cutoff values identified. The incidence of hypotension among our study population was found to be 6.8%. Over all procedures, systolic blood pressure (SBP) was determined to be a “poor” test for detecting hypotension, while MAP demonstrated a “fair” capacity. A downward normalization was evident in the ideal cutoff value based upon a patient's hypertensive history. The currently accepted SBP less than 80 mmHg cutoff failed to detect hypotensive episodes among baseline hypertensive patients, raising questions about its sensitivity. Based upon physiologic principles and study findings, a MAP‐based criterion is preferable in the diagnosis of hypotension during hemapheresis. J. Clin. Apheresis © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Investigations into a Planar Inductive Readout Strategy for the Monitoring of Ferrofluid Carriers

Ferrofluids can be conveniently used in magnetic immune-assay techniques, such as magnetic labeling, magnetic drug targeting, hyperthermia, contrast enhancement for magnetic resonance imaging, and magnetic separation of cells. A main issue of immune-assay techniques, often adopted in lab-on-chip systems, is the transitions of the biotarget from one site to another site. This is mandatory to expose the biotarget linked to the carrier to the chemical/physical processes occurring in different sites of the system. In this paper, a strategy to control and to monitor the position of a ferrofluid mass, which can assume the role of carrier, along a predefined path is presented together with some experimental results. The behavior of the sensing readout strategy for different masses of ferrofluid, the selected path, and the time of residence of the ferrofluid carrier in each site has been investigated. A minimum residence time of 740 ms has been estimated for the LabScale prototype developed, which confirms the suitability of the proposed control and sensing strategy. Moreover, the possibility to detect the direction of the ferrofluid mass movement has been demonstrated.
Auditors' perception of fraud risk indicators: Malaysian evidence

Purpose – Aims to identify the most important red flags as individually perceived by auditors, and explores whether auditors' demographic factors might impact on their perception of the relative importance of red flags in Malaysia, particularly in the Klang Valley area.Design/methodology/approach – This study employed a mailed survey as a method of data collection. The respondents to this survey are practicing auditors from audit firms in Kuala Lumpur. The sample of auditors is taken from the population of domestic listed audit firms with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants as of 27 March 2003. A simple random technique is applied to construct the sample.Findings – In general, subjects indicated that the operating and financial stability category was judged as most important, followed by management characteristics and influence over the control environment, and then finally by industry characteristics.Originality/value – It would be interesting to examine whether these fraud risk indicators are indeed .