Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Corporate Renewal through Internal Venturing and Spin-offs: Perspectives from Organizational Economics

We address the closely related phenomena of corporate venturing and spin-offs in the context of organizational economics, for example, agency perspectives and the evolutionary perspective on firms. These perspectives allow us to say something about both the amount and nature of variety creation inside firms. For example, there are strong arguments that firms will tend to produce too few and too “narrow” venture ideas. Moreover, organizational economics is helpful in deriving propositions about the occurrence of spin-offs, which we separate into “vicious” and “virtuous” ones. The former type refers to ventures that could have helped bringing corporate renewal, but where overruled venture managers left the firm in frustration. The latter type refers to ventures that are too far away from the firm’s core business(es) to assist in corporate renewal, but where their spin-off is tantamount to a learning experience to the firm. 1 Acknowledgment The comments of Mikael Iversen are gratefully acknowledged.
Knowledge-oriented strategies in the metal industry (empirical studies)

A. Krawczyk-Sołtys, I. Vozňáková, University of Opole, Opole, Poland The aim of this article is an attempt to determine which knowledge-oriented strategies can give metal industry enterprises the best results in achieving and maintaining a competitive advantage. To determine which of these discussed in the literature and implemented in various organizations knowledge-oriented strategies may prove to be the most effective in the metal industry, empirical research has begun. A chosen strategy of knowledge management and supporting strategies are the basis of a choice of methods and means of intended implementation. The choice of a specific knowledge management strategy may also result in the need for changes in an organization, particularly in an information system, internal communication, work organization and human resource management.
Storage-Tag-Aware Scheduler for Hadoop Cluster

Big data analytics has simplified the processing complexity of extremely large data sets through ecosystems, such as Hadoop, MapR, and Cloudera. Apache Hadoop is an open-source ecosystem that manages large data sets in a distributed environment. MapReduce is a programming model that processes massive amount of unstructured data sets over Hadoop cluster. Recently, Hadoop enhances its homogeneous storage function to heterogeneous storage and stores data sets into multiple storage media, i.e., SSD, RAM, and DISK. This development increases the performance of data block placement strategy and allows a client to store large data sets into multiple storage media efficiently than homogeneous storage. However, this evolution increases the consumption of computing capacity and memory usage over MapReduce job scheduling. The scheduler processes MapReduce job into homogeneous container having configuration of CPU, memory, DISK volume, and network I/O, and accesses, processes, and stores data sets over heterogeneous storage media. This produces a processing latency of locating and pairing source data set to MapReduce tasks and results an abnormal high consumption of computing capacity and memory usage in a Datanode. Similarly, when scheduler assigns MapReduce jobs to multiple Datanodes, the same processing latency can severely affect the performance of whole cluster. In this paper, we present Storage-Tag-Aware Scheduler (STAS) that reduces processing latency by scheduling MapReduce jobs into heterogeneous storage containers, i.e., SSD, DISK, and RAM container. STAS endorses job with a tag of storage media, such as $Job_{SSD}$ , $Job_{DISK}$ , and $Job_{RAM}$ and parses them into heterogeneous shared-queues, which assign processing configuration to enlist jobs. STAS manager then schedules shared-queue jobs into heterogeneous MapReduce containers and generates an output into storage media of the cluster. The experimental evaluation shows that STAS optimizes the consumption of computing capacity and memory usage efficiently than available schedulers in a Hadoop cluster.
Bendamustine produces durable responses with an acceptable safety profile in patients with rituximab-refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

BACKGROUND Although initially responsive to therapy, indolent non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs) are generally incurable. Therefore, active and tolerable treatments for patients with relapsed or refractory disease are needed. Bendamustine, a mechlorethamine alkylator with novel mechanisms of action, is approved in the United States for rituximab-refractory indolent B-cell NHL. PATIENTS AND METHODS Data from 2 North American multicenter studies with similar design, enrollment, and response criteria were pooled to evaluate safety and durability of response. Bendamustine was administered at 120 mg/m2 days 1 and 2 every 21 days for 6-8 cycles. Endpoints included overall response rate (ORR), duration of response (DOR), progression-free survival (PFS), and safety. RESULTS The studies enrolled 161 patients with a median of 2 previous chemotherapy regimens. Histologies included follicular (68%), small lymphocytic (20%), marginal zone (11%), and lymphoplasmacytic (1%) lymphoma. Sixty patients (34.1%) were refractory to their last chemotherapy, 53 (30.1%) were alkylating agent refractory. Overall response rate was 76% with 23% complete remissions (CRs) and unconfirmed CR (CRu). The median follow-up was 25.3 months (range, 24-27.8 months) and DOR was 10 months (range, 8.3-14 months). At 1 and 2 years, 45% and 23% of responders continued to respond. Among 127 patients previously treated with alkylators, ORR was 88% (28% CR/CRu) in responsive and 59% (12% CR/CRu) in refractory patients. Fifty opportunistic infections were reported in 48 patients. Second malignancies occurred in 9 patients (5.6%; 5 myelodysplastic syndromes, 2 acute myelogenous leukemia, 1 chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, and 1 squamous cell carcinoma). CONCLUSION Bendamustine induces durable responses with acceptable long-term safety in rituximab-refractory indolent NHL.
Neural crest development is regulated by the transcription factor Sox9

The neural crest is a transient migratory population of stem cells derived from the dorsal neural folds at the border between neural and non-neural ectoderm. Following induction, prospective neural crest cells are segregated within the neuroepithelium and then delaminate from the neural tube and migrate into the periphery, where they generate multiple differentiated cell types. The intrinsic determinants that direct this process are not well defined. Group E Sox genes (Sox8, Sox9 and Sox10) are expressed in the prospective neural crest and Sox9 expression precedes expression of premigratory neural crest markers. Here, we show that group E Sox genes act at two distinct steps in neural crest differentiation. Forced expression of Sox9 promotes neural-crest-like properties in neural tube progenitors at the expense of central nervous system neuronal differentiation. Subsequently, in migratory neural crest cells, SoxE gene expression biases cells towards glial cell and melanocyte fate, and away from neuronal lineages. Although SoxE genes are sufficient to initiate neural crest development they do not efficiently induce the delamination of ectopic neural crest cells from the neural tube consistent with the idea that this event is independently controlled. Together, these data identify a role for group E Sox genes in the initiation of neural crest development and later SoxE genes influence the differentiation pathway adopted by migrating neural crest cells.
Efficient Artificial Intelligent-based Localization Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Networks

—Recent advancement in wireless communications and electronics has enabled the development of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). WSNs are being deployed in a variety of location-aware applications, where the measurement of data is meaningless without accurate location. Many localization algorithms have been proposed in order to increase the accuracy and minimize the cost requirements. Artificial intelligence techniques such as fuzzy logic and neural networks can be utilized as effective methods to satisfy these requirements. In this paper, we present two efficient artificial intelligence-based localization algorithms for WSNs. In the first algorithm, we implement a Sugeno-type fuzzy system with a collaborative communication feedback to achieve an accurate and cost effective two-dimensional (2D) localization system. In the second algorithm, the idea of the 2D localization using neural network is extended to achieve a three-dimensional (3D) localization with simplicity, location accuracy, and low cost. The proposed approach is able to localize mobile nodes with unpredictable movement patterns. The simulation results depict the performance and the effectiveness of each approach.
Corporate identity, corporate branding and corporate marketing ‐ Seeing through the fog

Outlines 15 explanations for the fog which has enveloped the nascent domains of corporate identity and corporate marketing. However, the fog surrounding the area has a silver lining. This is because the fog has, unwittingly, led to the emergence of rich disciplinary, philosophical as well as “national”, schools of thought. In their composite, these approaches have the potential to form the foundations of a new approach to management which might be termed “corporate marketing”. In addition to articulating the author’s understanding of the attributes regarding a business identity (the umbrella label used to cover corporate identity, organisational identification and visual identity) the author outlines the characteristics of corporate marketing and introduces a new corporate marketing mix based on the mnemonic “HEADS”[2]. This relates to what an organisation has, expresses, the affinities of its employees, as well as what the organisation does and how it is seen by stakeholder groups and networks. In addition, the author describes the relationship between the corporate identity and corporate brand and notes the differences between product brands and corporate brands. Finally, the author argues that scholars need to be sensitive to the factors that are contributing to the fog surrounding corporate identity. Only then will business identity/corporate marketing studies grow in maturity.
Aperiodic variability of low-mass X-ray binaries at very low frequencies

We have obtained discrete Fourier power spectra of a sample of persistent low-mass neutron-star X-ray binaries using long-term light curves from the All Sky Monitor on board the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. Our aim is to investigate their aperiodic variability at frequencies in the range 1 x 10 - 7 -5 x 10 - 6 Hz and compare their properties with those of the black-hole source Cyg X-1. We find that the classification scheme that divides LMXBs into Z and atoll sources blurs at very low frequencies. Based on the long-term (years) pattern of variability and the results of power-law fits (P(v) ν - α ) to the 1 × 10 - 7 -5 × 10 - 6 Hz power density spectra, low-mass neutron-star binaries fall into three categories. Type 1 includes all Z sources, except Cyg X-2, and the atoll sources GX9+1 and GX13+1. They show relatively flat power spectra (α ≤ 0.9) and low variability (rms ≤ 20%). Type II systems comprise 4U 1636-53, 4U 1735-44 and GX3+1. They are more variable (20% ≤ rms ≤ 30%) and display steeper power spectra (0.9 ≤ α ≤ 1.2) than type I sources. Type III systems are the most variable (rms > 30%) and exhibit the steepest power spectra (α > 1.2). The sources 4U 1705-44, GX354-0 and 4U 1820-30 belong to this group. GX9+9 and Cyg X-2 appear as intermediate systems in between type 1 and II and type II and III sources, respectively. We speculate that the differences in these systems may be caused by the presence of different types of mass-donor companions. Other factors, like the size of the accretion disc and/or the presence of weak magnetic fields, are also expected to affect their low-frequency X-ray aperiodic varibility.
Pruning Decision Trees via Max-Heap Projection

The decision tree model has gained great popularity both in academia and industry due to its capability of learning highly non-linear decision boundaries, and at the same time, still preserving interpretability that usually translates into transparency of decision-making. However, it has been a longstanding challenge for learning robust decision tree models since the learning process is usually sensitive to data and many existing tree learning algorithms lead to overfitted tree structures due to the heuristic and greedy nature of these algorithms. Pruning is usually needed as an ad-hoc procedure to prune the tree structure, which is, however, not guided by a rigorous optimization formulation but by some intuitive statistical justification. Motivated by recent developments in sparse learning, in this paper, we propose a novel formulation that recognizes an interesting connection between decision tree post-pruning and sparse learning, where the tree structure can be embedded as constraints in the sparse learning framework via the use of a maxheap constraint as well as a sparsity constraint. This novel formulation leads to a non-convex optimization problem which can be solved by an iterative shrinkage algorithm in which the proximal operator can be solved by an efficient max-heap projection algorithm. A stability selection method is further proposed for enabling robust model selection in practice and guarantees the selected nodes preserve tree structure. Extensive experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method achieves better predictive performance than many existing benchmark methods across a wide range of real-world datasets.
Observations on scale production in Prymnesium parvum.

SUMMARY Information is provided regarding certain structural and developmental aspects of the single Golgi body present in the brown flagellate, Prymnesium parvum. Probably the most important new observation is the demonstration of scale production within certain Golgi cisternae. Different developmental states from immature to mature can be found in successive cisternae on one side of the Golgi centre, the scales themselves being all similarly oriented with respect to the inner and outer faces of the cisternae in which they are formed. A deep pit found in a relatively constant position attached to the plasmalemma beside each flagellar base is interpreted as being possibly the site of scale liberation. These findings are discussed in a preliminary way.
DARPA communicator evaluation: progress from 2000 to 2001

ABSTRACTThis paper describes the evaluation methodology and resultsof the DARPA Communicator spoken dialog system evaluationexperiments in 2000 and 2001. Nine spoken dialog systems in thetravel planning domain participated in the experiments resulting ina total corpus of 1904 dialogs. We describe and compare the ex-perimental design of the 2000 and 2001 DARPA evaluations. Wedescribe how we established a performance baseline in 2001 forcomplex tasks. We present our overall approach to data collection,the metrics collected, and the application of PARADISE to thesedata sets. We compare the results we achieved in 2000 for a num-ber of core metrics with those for 2001. These results demonstratelarge performance improvements from 2000 to 2001 and show thatthe Communicator program goal of conversational interaction forcomplex tasks has been achieved.1. INTRODUCTIONThe objective of the DARPA Communicator project is to supportrapid development of multi-modal speech-enabled dialog systemswith advanced conversational capabilities. Figure 1 illustrates theCommunicator challenge problem; asystem must support complexconversational interaction to complete this task within 10 minutes.You are in Denver, Friday night at 8pm on the road to the air-port after a great meeting. As a result of the meeting, youneed to attend a group meeting in San Diego on Point Lomaon Monday at 8:30, a meeting Tuesday morning at Miramar at7:30, then one from 3-5 pm in Monterey; you need reservations(car, hotel, air). You pull over to the side of the road and whip out your Com-municator. Through spoken dialog (augmented with a displayand pointing), you make the appropriate reservations, discovera conﬂict, and send an e-mail message (dictated) to inform thegroup of the changed schedule. Do this in 10 minutes.Fig. 1. Darpa Communicator Challenge ProblemDuring the course of the Communicator program, we havebeen involved in developing methods for measuring progress to-wards the program goals and assessing advances in the componenttechnologies required to achieve such goals. In previous work, wereport on an exploratory data collection experiment with nine par-ticipating Communicator systems in the travel planning domain
Telephone-based conversational speech recognition in the JUPITER domain

This paper describes our experiences with developing a telephone-based speech recognizer as part of a conversational system in the weather information domain. This system has been used to collect spontaneous speech data which has proven to be extremely valuable for research in a number of different areas. After describing the corpus we have collected, we describe the development of the recognizer vocabulary, pronunciations, language and acoustic models for this system, and report on the current performance of the recognizer under several different conditions.
Association of hepatic lipase gene polymorphisms with hypertriglyceridemia and low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels among South Indian subjects without diabetes.

AIM The aim of this study was to investigate the association of four variants of the hepatic lipase (HL [or LIPC]) gene with various lipid parameters among South Indian subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT). SUBJECTS AND METHODS In total, 747 NGT subjects were randomly selected from the Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiological Study (CURES). Serum triglycerides, serum cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured using a Hitachi-912 autoanalyzer (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany). Genotyping of HL gene variants was done by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method, and 20% of samples were sequenced to validate the genotypes obtained. Haplotype analysis was also carried out. RESULTS The TT genotype of the rs1800588 C/T (C-480T) polymorphism was significantly associated with hypertriglyceridemia, with an adjusted odds ratio of 2.58 (95% confidence interval 1.38-4.85, P=0.003), whereas those with the CC genotype of the rs6074 A/C (Thr479Thr) had significantly lower HDL-C levels (41.3±9.8 mg/dL) compared with the AA genotype (43.6±10.2 mg/dL, P=0.02). Haplotype analysis showed the TGC haplotype was significantly associated with low HDL-C levels. CONCLUSIONS Among South Indian subjects without diabetes, the rs1800588 C/T (C-480T) and rs6074 C/A (Thr479Thr) variants of the HL gene are associated with hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL-C, respectively. The TGC haplotype was significantly associated with low HDL-C.
Bacterial composition and red fluorescence of plaque in relation to primary and secondary caries next to composite: an in situ study.

BACKGROUND/HYPOTHESIS Secondary caries has been suggested as the main reason for restoration replacement. We hypothesized that more caries-associated bacteria are found on composite resin restoration material, compared to sound tooth tissue. METHODS Both restored and unrestored dentin and enamel samples were placed in a full denture of eight subjects for 20 weeks. The microbiological composition of approximal plaque and the association between caries-associated bacteria and red autofluorescence of dental plaque was studied. Every 4 weeks the specimens were microradiographed using transversal wavelength independent microradiography (T-WIM). After 1 and 20 weeks red fluorescence pictures and plaque samples were taken. Samples were cultured for total anaerobic counts, mutans streptococci, lactobacilli, candida and Actinomyces odontolyticus. RESULTS Lesion depth in the dentin and enamel was positively associated with lactobacilli, and lesion depth in dentin was positively associated with A. odontolyticus, whereas no association was found between mutans streptococci and lesion depth. The red-fluorescent bacteria A. odontolyticus and lactobacilli did not correlate with red-fluorescent plaque, indicating that red fluorescence is probably not caused by a single species of these bacteria. After 20 weeks, a higher proportion of combined mutans streptococci and lactobacilli was found on restored tissue compared to non-restored tissue (P = 0.04). CONCLUSION The higher proportion of caries-associated bacteria on restored tissue indicates that the ecology on the surface of primary lesions differs from that on lesions next to composite, and that secondary caries next to composite may differ from the primary caries process.
BIODEGRADABLE, THERMALLY RESPONSIVE HYDROGELS FOR MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION TREATMENT

Myocardial infarction (MI) is one of the leading causes of human mortality and morbidity. Aimed at preventing post-MI pathological left ventricular remodeling, which leads to end-stage heart failure, intramyocardial biomaterial injection was developed and has been rapidly advancing as a strategy to provide mechanical support to the ventricular wall. Various material candidates have been evaluated in clinical and preclinical trials and have presented promising therapeutic outcomes. This growing body of research has stimulated efforts to optimize material properties, identify key mechanistic factors, and implement safer, more adaptable delivery methods. We previously invented a series of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (polyNIPAAm) based thermally responsive injectable hydrogels which could become hydrophilic and be absorbed in vivo as labile hydrophobic polyester side chains are removed. With advantageous mechanical properties, these hydrogels has shown beneficial effects in small and large animal models of MI. At the same time, there is considerable room for improvement in material design. Hydrogel degradation rates could not be precisely manipulated across a wide range. High viscosity and sol-gel transition of hydrogel solutions below body temperature prohibited catheter based delivery. The bioactivity of the synthetic hydrogels was low, not specifically incorporating activity designed to mitigate adverse responses of MI and the injected hydrogel itself. Modifications were made on the previous hydrogel platform. We employed the concept of “acid-catalyzed degradation” documented in polyester based scaffold materials and developed an innovative strategy of tailoring the degradation rate of the hydrogel. This allowed tuning hydrogel degradation time from days to months. By copolymerization with more hydrophilic monomers, injectability of the hydrogels through catheters was substantially increased. Patterned subxiphoid transepicardial injections on a beating porcine heart were achieved facilitated by a miniature robotic delivery device. Scavengers for reactive oxygen species were incorporated into the platform design, producing an antioxidant hydrogel which significantly mitigated infarction/reperfusion injury in rat hearts and reduced ventricular cell apoptosis. In a parallel study a connective porous structure was generated in the injected hydrogel and decellularized porcine urinary bladder components were added. Cell infiltration into these hydrogels was greatly increased, and macrophages were polarized towarding a more constructive phenotype.