Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Eye movement desentitization and reprocessing in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder: a review of an emerging therapy

Background. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a relatively new form of psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. We critically reviewed randomized controlled trials of EMDR. Methods. A wide range of electronic databases and reference lists of articles obtained were searched and relevant experts were consulted. Studies were critically appraised according to established criteria. Results. We found 16 published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing EMDR with alternative psychotherapy treatments, variants of EMDR and with delayed treatment groups. Studies were generally small (mean number of patients = 35) and of variable methodological quality, with only five reporting blinding of outcome assessors to treatment allocation, and in some cases with high loss to follow-up. In most cases EMDR was shown to be effective at reducing symptoms up to 3 months after treatment. In one case benefit was maintained up to 9 months and in another (uncontrolled) follow-up treatment effect was present at 15 months. Two studies suggest that EMDR is as effective as exposure therapies, three claim greater effectiveness in comparison to relaxation training, and three claim superiority over delayed treatment groups. Of the studies examining specific treatment components, two found that treatment with eyes moving was more effective than eyes fixed, while three studies found the two procedures to be of equal effectiveness. Conclusion. The evidence in support of EMDR is of limited quality but results are encouraging for this inexpensive, simple therapy. Further research is warranted in larger samples with longer periods of follow-up.
An equivalent circuit model for Li-ion batteries used in energy storage systems in building environment

The applications of Li-ion batteries used in energy storage system (ESS) in building environment is drawing more and more public attention and it is predicted to hold the most share of battery market in the year of 2020. In this paper, an equivalent circuit battery model for the ESSs applications in building environment is proposed, and the parameters are extracted experimentally. A new methodology to separate the fast and slow dynamics of the model is presented, and the parameter extraction results show a high-performance accuracy. The State of Energy instead of the State of Charge of the battery is used as model output in order for accurate battery energy state prediction during discharging. The discharging power is taken as the direct input of the proposed model, instead of the discharging current. The model is set up in Matlab environment, and the testing results of a commercial Li-ion battery are presented.
Prostate cancer treatment outcome in blacks and whites: a summary of the literature.

The disparate mortality rates of prostate cancer among populations have led to the question "Is therapy as effective in blacks versus whites. " A review of the cancer literature that has assessed black-white outcomes supports the conclusion that equal treatment yields equal outcomes among equal patients. Although epidemiological studies demonstrate that blacks are disproportionately diagnosed with higher stage and higher grade disease, clinical studies show that equal treatment yields equal outcome regardless of race. Patterns-of-care studies demonstrate that there is not equal treatment in the United States among black and white patients.
Asymmetric monetary policy: empirical evidence for Italy

A growing body of empirical work has examined the potential asymmetry in the effects of monetary policy on United States real activity. This study looks for such an empirical evidence for Italy in the period 1982–1998. Monetary shocks are obtained as residuals from a central bank reaction function where the three-months interbank rate is taken as the indicator of the monetary policy stance. The effects of these positive and negative shocks on output are statistically different from zero and the null of symmetry between the two is rejected in favour of negative shocks having a greater impact on real output growth, thus confirming an asymmetric effect of monetary policy even for Italy.
Intraday return dynamics and volatility spillovers between NSE S&P CNX Nifty stock index and stock index futures

Using 5-min intraday transaction prices, this study investigates the relationship between the National Stock Exchange (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty futures and its underlying spot index in terms of both return and volatility. By applying Johansen–Juselius (J–J) cointegration analysis, we find evidence of single common stochastic trend, to which spot and futures prices move together in a long-run equilibrium path. The vector error correction model (VECM) and Granger causality test find that there is unidirectional causality running from futures to spot market. To examine the volatility spillovers between the markets, this study has used bivariate Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedastic (GARCH) (1, 1) model with Baba, Engle, Kraft and Kroner (BEKK) parameterization and finds evidence of bidirectional volatility spillovers between spot and futures markets. However, there is pronounced spillover effect of a previous shock and volatility from the futures market to spot market. Hence, we conclude that Nifty futures prices lead spot prices and futures market largely contributes to price discovery. These findings have significant implications for traders in implementing hedging and arbitrage trading strategies, for portfolio managers in managing risk and also for policymakers in assessing market stability.
The Effect of Private Equity Ownership on Management Practices: A Research Agenda

This article contributes to the growing literature on the private equity (PE) phenomenon by conducting a literature review on the effects of PE ownership on management practices. Evidence is provided for the importance of this relationship to value creation. The exploration of the issues embodied in this relationship sheds light on several research gaps. These gaps are synthesized into a future-orientated framework that provides informed suggestions regarding the direction of further research endeavours.
Industrial scale microwave applicator for high temperature alkaline hydrolysis of PET

A microwave design for an industrial scale applicator for a continuous microwave assisted depolymerization of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) has been developed. The design relies on a Archimedean screw moving system for the materials transport. Simulation results show that a homogeneous heating of the process material along the screw axis can be achieved by using a novel cavity design which bases on the TM0, x, 0 field mode. The achieved design provides high energy efficiency with a reflected power of less than 10 % and a high robustness against changes in the permittivity of the reactants. The cavity is designed for use together with a screw pump surrounded by cylindrical pipe with a diameter of 250 mm and a length of 250 mm at the 2.45 GHz ISM band. The proposed design is modular and can be easily expanded for the heating of longer reactor tubes. The electromagnetic design is based on the measured temperature dependency of the dielectric properties of the solvolytic reaction mixture. It is verified over the full range of the expected permittivities.
Explaining Public Service Performance: Does Management Matter?

Research in the broad field of public administration has paid insufficient attention to public service performance. Moreover, the impact of public management variables on performance has not been extensively theorised or tested. A framework for assessing the impact of public management strategies or organizational performance is presented, and the fragments of empirical evidence on this topic are identified and synthesised. The existing evidence suggests that management does matter, and that further research in this area would have theoretical and practical benefits.
Structural analysis of staphylococcal bacteriophage phi 11 attachment sites

The lysogenization of bacteriophage phi 11 in Staphylococcus aureus occurs by site-specific recombination. The DNA segments containing the attachment sites on the host chromosome, the phage genome, and the two junctions created by insertion of the prophage were cloned, and the nucleotide sequences were determined. The attachment sites share a very short common sequence of 10 base pairs.
Building Teams in Entrepreneurial Companies

This article focuses on the essentials of building effective, collaborative, team-based organizations. The entrepreneurs and innovators who found and build technology-based organizations comprise out target audience, but most specifically we address the biotechnology and biomedical field. Two perspectives are provided in the article: 1) advice based on the experiential learning provided by years of experience of building and growing entrepreneurial organizations; and 2) identifying the keys to building effective teams based on some selected the academic or scholarly literature on building effective teams. Our goal is to provide a perspective that blends real-world lessons filtered through a more scholarly approach based on case literature and other research-based studies. The material summarized herein is presented as a learning module to the participants in the Biotechnology Entrepreneurship Boot Camp. Our pedagogical approach in the Boot camp is to lead with the background material and perspective contained herein, and to then have a moderated panel discussion around these and other topics. The moderated panel consists of the key members of a real company consisting of key C-level officers and founders and a venture capitalist who funded the company. Thus the “theory and practice” of team-based innovation come together via a real-time case.
Most Common When Least Important: Deliberation in the European Union Council of Ministers

This article contributes to the empirical turn in deliberative democratic theory, by studying the presence of arguing (discussion on the merits) and bargaining in the working groups of the Council of the European Union. It uses a survey of representatives of member states to analyse to what extent, under what circumstances, and by whom, arguing is used. The results indicate that arguing is indeed common in the Council working groups, but also that there is substantial variation. Most arguing is found in intergovernmental policy areas and by the most powerful and well-connected actors. The findings point to the conclusion that higher stakes and political pressure make actors less willing and able to engage in arguing.
Silver nanoparticles up-regulate Connexin43 expression and increase gap junctional intercellular communication in human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549

Abstract Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are increasingly being used in wound dressings, medical settings, and various household products due to their unique properties and antimicrobial activity. Despite the widespread use of Ag NP products, the molecular mechanisms underlying the biological effects of Ag NPs remain unclear. Gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC), formed by the connexin protein family, plays a critical role in the maintenance of tissue and organ homeostasis. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of well characterized, PVP-coated Ag NPs (69 ± 3 nm) and silver nitrate on GJIC and connexin43 (Cx43) expression in human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549. Our results showed that Ag NPs increased GJIC in A549 cells as assayed by dye transfer method. Western blot analysis showed that incubation of cells with Ag NPs significantly increased the expression of Cx43 protein. In addition, Ag NPs up-regulated expression of Cx43 mRNA in a dose-dependent manner. Silver nitrate failed to increase GJIC and the expression of Cx43 protein. It, however, increased Cx43 mRNA expression in A549 cells. Taken together, our results provide the first evidence that Ag NPs induced the increase of GJIC activity in A549 cells through up-regulation of Cx43 protein, suggesting that Cx43 and GJIC may be one of the targets for Ag NPs biological effects.
The Perennial Problem of Small States: A Survey of Research Efforts

The survey points to the age-old European interest in the role of small states, almost ignored in the recent literature on small states. It is shown that the numerous attempts to define a small state have exclusively been concerned with defining an independent variable to the neglect of a dependent variable, viz. the behavior of small states. The studies on the security policy of small states and on their foreign economic relations are discussed. Other approaches to the study of small states in international relations are analyzed, including various quantitative attempts. In the conclusion some alterna tives for further research are suggested.
A Multiple–Indicator Approach to Municipal Service Evaluation: Correlating Performance Measurement and Citizen Satisfaction across Jurisdictions

Early work on municipal service–quality assessment recommended multiple measures of performance from both providers and users. Citizen satisfaction surveys have rivaled their more quantitative counterpart, administrative performance measures, in adoption, but the implication of survey results for action is not well understood by managers or scholars. To achieve meaningfully integrated multiple measures of service quality, we need to explore the dimensions of citizen satisfaction and review patterns of satisfaction across localities. We also need to understand the relationship between administrative performance measures and citizen perceptions. This cross–sectional analysis of municipal citizen satisfaction and performance benchmark data suggests that citizen satisfaction survey results are useful to managers in conjunction with performance–measurement programs as part of a multiple–indicator approach to evaluating municipal service quality. However, understanding citizen perceptions requires a different perspective than that applied to administrative service performance measurement.
Analysis of the value for unit commitment of improved load forecasts

Load forecast errors can yield suboptimal unit commitment decisions. The economic cost of inaccurate forecasts is assessed by a combination of forecast simulation, unit commitment optimization, and economic dispatch modeling for several different generation/load systems. The forecast simulation preserves the error distributions and correlations actually experienced by users of a neural net-based forecasting system. Underforecasts result in purchases of expensive peaking or spot market power; overforecasts inflate start-up and fixed costs because too much capacity is committed. The value of improved accuracy is found to depend on load and generator characteristics; for the systems considered here, a reduction of 1% in mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) decreases variable generation costs by approximately 0.1%-0.3% when MAPE is in the range of 3%-5%. These values are broadly consistent with the results of a survey of 19 utilities, using estimates obtained by simpler methods. A conservative estimate is that a 1% reduction in forecasting error for a 10,000 MW utility can save up to $1.6 million annually.
ANS-Based Index Compression

Techniques for effectively representing the postings lists associated with inverted indexes have been studied for many years. Here we combine the recently developed "asymmetric numeral systems" (ANS) approach to entropy coding and a range of previous index compression methods, including VByte, Simple, and Packed. The ANS mechanism allows each of them to provide markedly improved compression effectiveness, at the cost of slower decoding rates. Using the 426 GB GOV2 collection, we show that the combination of blocking and ANS-based entropy-coding against a set of 16 magnitude-based probability models yields compression effectiveness superior to most previous mechanisms, while still providing reasonable decoding speed.
Recent Developments on Heterogeneous Beliefs and Adaptive Behaviour of Financial Markets

Heterogeneity and interacting among boundedly rational agents have received an increasing attention in the finance and economics literature. Recent developments on the role of heterogeneous beliefs on asset pricing and the adaptive behaviour of financial markets shed light into the complex behaviour of financial markets and provides some explanations of certain market behaviour and anomalies. This paper surveys these developments, of which the author and several coauthors have contributed in several papers, and discusses the extent to which they can address market anomalies, complexity, and stylized facts in financial markets.
Local and Regional Development

Starting to read these three books published by Routledge, I hoped for them to be complementary. Local and Regional Development would give a broad introduction into local and regional development, Clusters and Regional Development would focus on one economic aspect of regional development, namely clusters, whereas The Changing Economic Geography of Globalization would put the contents of the other two books in a globalization perspective.
Enterprise Resource Planning systems and accountants: towards hybridization?

This paper aims to examine how the adoption of a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system challenges the definition of the expertise and roles of accountants within organizations, leading to new, hybrid positions. By drawing on structuration theory, we propose to conceptualize the potential change in accountants' practices and positions as a structuration process, and ERP systems as modalities of structuration, providing new interpretive schemes, norms and co-ordination and control facilities, which influence the direction of hybridization between accountants and other professional groups. Since the results of this process are neither predictable a priori, nor generalizable, we are convinced that detailed interpretive case studies of ERP implementations are needed to understand their complex impacts on accountants. Hence, we provide one such study in order to explore the 'ambiguous' and often inconsistent consequences for accountants deriving from the adoption of an ERP system.
Versatile in vivo regulation of tumor phenotypes by dCas9-mediated transcriptional perturbation

Significance Tumor development is accompanied by widespread genomic and transcriptional changes. The mere acquisition of this information has greatly outpaced our capability to functionally study the biological roles of altered genes. This dilemma highlights the necessity to develop technologies that facilitate a rapid functional prioritization among lists of altered genes. Here, we use catalytically dead Cas9 to specifically activate or inactivate the transcription of genes in mouse models of cancer. This approach allows us to study the impact of gene-level changes in vivo and to systematically screen for novel genetic mediators of treatment relapse. We expect that this approach can be used to systematically dissect the biological role of cancer-related genes, a process critical to identifying new cancer drug targets. Targeted transcriptional regulation is a powerful tool to study genetic mediators of cellular behavior. Here, we show that catalytically dead Cas9 (dCas9) targeted to genomic regions upstream or downstream of the transcription start site allows for specific and sustainable gene-expression level alterations in tumor cells in vitro and in syngeneic immune-competent mouse models. We used this approach for a high-coverage pooled gene-activation screen in vivo and discovered previously unidentified modulators of tumor growth and therapeutic response. Moreover, by using dCas9 linked to an activation domain, we can either enhance or suppress target gene expression simply by changing the genetic location of dCas9 binding relative to the transcription start site. We demonstrate that these directed changes in gene-transcription levels occur with minimal off-target effects. Our findings highlight the use of dCas9-mediated transcriptional regulation as a versatile tool to reproducibly interrogate tumor phenotypes in vivo.
Models and Strategies in the Development of Antiobesity Drugs

Obesity is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. There is still a wide disparity between the necessity and availability of safe and effective antiobesity pharmacotherapies. Current drugs are associated with adverse effects and are limited in their efficacy. There is thus an urgent need for new antiobesity agents. Animal models are critical to the study of the biological mechanisms underpinning energy homeostasis and obesity and provide useful tools for the development of novel antiobesity agents. Our understanding of the complex neuronal and hormonal systems that regulate appetite and body weight has largely been based on studies in animals. This review describes the physiological basis of appetite, rodent models used in the development of antiobesity drugs, and potential future targets for novel antiobesity agents.
Military expenditure and debt in South America

The debt crisis that struck South American countries in the 1980s led to severe recession and chronic economic problems. This paper considers one potentially important contributor to the growth of external debt, namely military spending. It considers the experience of Argentina, Brazil and Chile. It finds no evidence that military burden had any impact on the evolution of debt in Argentina and Brazil, but some evidence that military burden tended to increase debt in Chile. At the same time, Chile was the least affected of the three countries by acute financial crises resulting from the debt problems, although its relative levels of debt were as high or higher. This suggests that military burden may be important in determining debt in countries, but it is only of significance when it is not swamped by other macroeconomic and international factors.
Leadership performance in Greek enterprises using the EQA framework

Leadership effectiveness is considered to be a key factor for the implementation of TQM. Although companies worldwide are increasingly adopting TQM, Greek companies have not taken major steps towards this concept. Research was organised by the Chemical Engineering Department of the NTU Athens in order to investigate leadership performance in Greek enterprises using the framework of the European Quality Award. The results of the research show that Greek leadership has generally not embraced the principles of quality so as to be able to drive the process of change towards total quality. Important factors with a double, positive and negative, influence on the leadership performance of Greek enterprises are the existence of a quality assurance system in accordance with ISO 9000 on one hand and the existence of a mother company on the other. Major weaknesses of leadership in the sample enterprises refer to inadequate communication at intra‐ and inter‐departmental level, to lack of organised and intensive training and to a rather formal commitment to total quality, just covering the requirements of the quality assurance system. However, an elite of four to five enterprises covering some of the leadership requirements of the EQA model at a degree of more than 60 per cent proves that TQM can be realised in Greece.