Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Overview of Innovation Intensity in the Indigenous Oilfield Services Firms in Nigeria

The study examined the types and intensity of innovations in the indigenous Nigeria's oil and gas servicing sub-sector. The study used primary and secondary data sources, 100 firms were purposefully selected and sampled, focusing on the period between 2001 and 2010. A total of 400 questionnaires were ad min istered of wh ich 70% were returned and found suitable for analysis. The responses were aggregated such that the unit of analysis was the firm. Secondary data were sourced fro m the internet and other published sources. The data so obtained were analy zed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Of the 4 types of innovation that the study examined, o rganizat ional innovation was the most prevalent (46%) while diffusion-based innovation was least (10%). Product and process innovations were implemented, respectively, by 17% and 22% of the firms. Innovation intensity was lo w: only two patents were granted to the firms within the period 2007-2010, level of organizat ional learning was lo w, the nu mber of R&D staff was low while the impact of innovation on firms' performance was expressed in increase in profit, process improvement and new product development. In conclusion, our study found out that the overall innovation capability of the firms was expressed in organizational innovations.
Applications of computer-aided approaches in the development of hepatitis C antiviral agents

ABSTRACT Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a global health problem that causes several chronic life-threatening liver diseases. The numbers of people affected by HCV are rising annually. Since 2011, the FDA has approved several anti-HCV drugs; while many other promising HCV drugs are currently in late clinical trials. Areas covered: This review discusses the applications of different computational approaches in HCV drug design. Expert opinion: Molecular docking and virtual screening approaches have emerged as a low-cost tool to screen large databases and identify potential small-molecule hits against HCV targets. Ligand-based approaches are useful for filtering-out compounds with rich physicochemical properties to inhibit HCV targets. Molecular dynamics (MD) remains a useful tool in optimizing the ligand-protein complexes and understand the ligand binding modes and drug resistance mechanisms in HCV. Despite their varied roles, the application of in-silico approaches in HCV drug design is still in its infancy. A more mature application should aim at modelling the whole HCV replicon in its active form and help to identify new effective druggable sites within the replicon system. With more technological advancements, the roles of computer-aided methods are only going to increase several folds in the development of next-generation HCV drugs.
Fair and Efficient Taxation Under Partial Control: Theory and Evidence

There is clear evidence that fairness plays a role in redistribution. Individuals want to compensate others for their misfortune, while they allow them to enjoy the fruits of their effort. This paper introduces fairness in a tax-benefit scheme that is based on several characteristics in order to study the design of optimal taxes where people have what we call ‘partial control’. For some characteristics like sex, age and inborn handicaps the degree of control is zero (i.e., these characteristic are exogenous tags fully defined by the individual’s type), while for other characteristics, think of education and family composition, the degree of control is positive, i.e. it can be changed by exerting effort. We derive the fair tax benefit formula as well as two testable predictions. We provide the first estimates of implicit tax rates for different characteristics in 26 European countries (using EU-SILC data) and the US (using CPS data) and find a robust tendency in all countries to compensate more for uncontrollable characteristics compared to the partially controllable ones. We then attempt to calculate which countries currently have fair tax systems. Only the Continental countries France and Luxembourg pass the fairness test, whereas the Baltic and Anglo-Saxon countries (including the US) perform worst. Our paper provides a new way to formalize the old intuition that, in a fair society, people should be allowed to benefit more from their own efforts than from exogenous characteristics like their genetic endowment.
Quantitative Evaluation of QoS Prediction in IoT

Internet of Things (IoT) applications, are typically built from services provided by heterogeneous devices, which are potentially resource constrained and/or mobile. These services and applications are widespread and a key research question is how to predict user side quality of service (QoS), to ensure optimal selection and composition of services. Invoking all available IoT services for evaluation is impractical due to the exponential growth in these services. To assess the current state of the art related to this research question we conduct a quantitative evaluation of QoS prediction approaches, particularly those that use matrix factorisation (MF) for collaborative QoS prediction. These approaches derive from the collaborative filtering model used in recommender systems, which avoids the problems of many other QoS prediction approaches of requiring additional invoking of available IoT components on behalf of the user. We conduct comprehensive experiments based on a real-world large-scale QoS dataset as well as a transformation of this dataset to more closely estimate IoT services, to show the prediction accuracy of these approaches. We also give a demonstration of how they can be used in a small scale example.
Dynamic acetylation of all lysine-4 trimethylated histone H3 is evolutionarily conserved and mediated by p300/CBP

Histone modifications are reported to show different behaviors, associations, and functions in different genomic niches and organisms. We show here that rapid, continuous turnover of acetylation specifically targeted to all K4-trimethylated H3 tails (H3K4me3), but not to bulk histone H3 or H3 carrying other methylated lysines, is a common uniform characteristic of chromatin biology in higher eukaryotes, being precisely conserved in human, mouse, and Drosophila. Furthermore, dynamic acetylation targeted to H3K4me3 is mediated by the same lysine acetyltransferase, p300/cAMP response element binding (CREB)-binding protein (CBP), in both mouse and fly cells. RNA interference or chemical inhibition of p300/CBP using a newly discovered small molecule inhibitor, C646, blocks dynamic acetylation of H3K4me3 globally in mouse and fly cells, and locally across the promoter and start-site of inducible genes in the mouse, thereby disrupting RNA polymerase II association and the activation of these genes. Thus, rapid dynamic acetylation of all H3K4me3 mediated by p300/CBP is a general, evolutionarily conserved phenomenon playing an essential role in the induction of immediate-early (IE) genes. These studies indicate a more global function of p300/CBP in mediating rapid turnover of acetylation of all H3K4me3 across the nuclei of higher eukaryotes, rather than a tight promoter-restricted function targeted by complex formation with specific transcription factors.
THE DEMAND FOR CIGARETTE SMUGGLING

When taxes raise the full price of a good above that in nearby jurisdictions, consumers have an incentive to cross into the lower-price jurisdiction to make purchases. Using a simple microeconomic model of the consumer's border-crossing decision, the authors derive an econometric model to test the significance of border crossing and estimate the magnitude of the resulting sales. Examining cigarette sales in the continental United States over the period 1960 to 1986, they find strong evidence that border crossing is a significant factor in explaining sales differentials between states. Implications for demand estimation and excise tax policy are discussed. Coauthors are T. Randolph Beard; Robert B. Ekelund, Jr.; and Rand W. Ressler. Copyright 1995 by Oxford University Press.
Providing Free Autopoweroff Plugs: Measuring the Effect on Households’ Electricity Consumption through a Field Experiment

Abstract Experimental evidence of the effect of providing households with cheap energy saving technology is sparse. We present results from a field experiment in which autopoweroff plugs were provided free of charge to randomly selected households. We use propensity score matching to find treatment effects on metered electricity consumption for different types of households. We find effects for single men and couples without children, while we find no effect for single women and households with children. We suggest that this could be because of differences in saving potential (e.g. some households do not have appliances where using a plug is relevant), differences in the skills relevant for installing the technology and differences in the willingness to spend time and effort on installation. We conclude that targeting interventions at more responsive households, and tailoring interventions to target groups, can increase the efficiency of programs.
Efficacy of esmolol administration at different time intervals in attenuating hemodynamic response to tracheal intubation.

BACKGROUND Laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation are known to cause increase in both arterial blood pressure and heart rate. Several strategies have been evolved to blunt the haemodynamic response to tracheal intubation but each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. Esmolol, a cardio selective Beta-1 blocking drug, can alleviate some of these problems. Esmolol, when administered parenterally, exhibits rapid onset and a short duration of action due to its rapid clearance by red blood cell esterases. Hence we conducted the present study to evaluate the efficacy and optimum time of single bolus esmolol administration in attenuating hypertensive- tachycardiac response to laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation. MATERIALS AND METHODS The randomized double blind prospective study was conducted in 60 patients, in the age group of 20-40 years, of both sexes, belonging to American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) physical status class I or II and scheduled for elective surgery requiring endotracheal intubation and general anaesthesia. The efficacy and optimum time of single bolus esmolol administration in attenuating hypertensive - tachycardiac response to laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation was evaluated. Patients in group I (n = 20) received bolus administration of injection esmolol 1.5 mg/kg intravenously (iv) 90 seconds before intubation; in group II (n = 20) three minutes before intubation and in group III (n = 20) six minutes before intubation. RESULTS There was no clinical and statistically significant variation in heart rate in group I and II at different time intervals of the study period but in group III heart rate increased significantly one minute after tracheal intubation. (P < 0.05) One minute after intubation, the increase in systolic, diastolic and mean blood pressure and rate pressure product was statistically significant in group I (P < 0.01) and group III. (P < 0.05) However, in group II increase in systolic blood pressure and rate pressure product was statistically not significant. (P > 0.05) CONCLUSION To conclude, single intravenous bolus dose of esmolol (1.5 mg/kg) is safe and more effective in attenuating haemodynamic response to laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation when administered three minutes prior to intubation.
Characterization of horizontally transferred β‐fructofuranosidase (ScrB) genes in Agrilus planipennis

The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) is an important invasive insect pest of Fraxinus spp. that feeds on host tissues containing high levels of sucrose. However, little is known about how it digests sucrose. Here, using larval midgut transcriptome data and preliminary genome sequence efforts, two β‐fructofuranosidase‐encoding ScrB genes, AplaScrB‐1 and AplaScrB‐2, were identified, and proved to reside within the A. planipennis genome. Homology and phylogenetic analysis revealed that they were acquired by A. planipennis via horizontal gene transfer (HGT) from bacteria, possibly an event independent from that reported in bark beetles (eg ScrB genes). Microsynteny between A. planipennis DNA scaffold #2042940, which hosts AplaScrB‐1, and a region in the Tribolium castaneum chromosome LG4 suggested that A. planipennis gained this gene after the separation of Buprestidae and Tenebrionidae. Although both of the putative AplaScrB proteins have conserved β‐fructofuranosidase motifs, only AplaScrB‐2 was predicted to be a secretory protein. Expression of AplaScrB‐1 seemed constitutive during development and in all tissues examined, whereas AplaScrB‐2 showed a peak expression in adults and in the midgut. We propose that acquisition of these genes by A. planipennis from bacteria is adaptive, and specifically AplaScrB‐2 is involved in breaking down dietary sucrose to obtain energy for development.
Transcriptional Control of Bacillus subtilis hemN and hemZ

ABSTRACT Previous characterization of Bacillus subtilis hemN, encoding a protein involved in oxygen-independent coproporphyrinogen III decarboxylation, indicated the presence of a secondhemN-like gene (B. Hippler, G. Homuth, T. Hoffmann, C. Hungerer, W. Schumann, and D. Jahn, J. Bacteriol. 179:7181–7185, 1997). The corresponding hemZ gene was found to be split into the two potential open reading frames yhaV andyhaW by a sequencing error of the genome sequencing project. The hemZ gene, encoding a 501-amino-acid protein with a calculated molecular mass of 57,533 Da, complemented aSalmonella typhimurium hemF hemN double mutant under aerobic and anaerobic growth conditions. A B. subtilis hemZmutant accumulated coproporphyrinogen III under anaerobic growth conditions. A hemN hemZ double mutant exhibited normal aerobic and anaerobic growth, indicating the presence of a third alternative oxygen-independent enzymatic system for coproporphyrinogen III oxidation. The hemY gene, encoding oxygen-dependent protoporphyrinogen IX oxidase with coproporphyrinogen III oxidase side activity, did not significantly contribute to this newly identified system. Growth behavior of hemY mutants revealed the presence of an oxygen-independent protoporphyrinogen IX oxidase inB. subtilis. A monocistronic hemZ mRNA, starting 31 bp upstream of the translational start codon, was detected. Reporter gene fusions of hemZ and hemNdemonstrated a fivefold anaerobic induction of both genes under nitrate ammonifying growth conditions. No anaerobic induction was observed for fermentatively growing B. subtilis. The B. subtilis redox regulatory systems encoded by resDE,fnr, and ywiD were indispensable for the observed transcriptional induction. A redox regulation cascade proceeding from an unknown sensor via resDE, throughfnr and ywiD to hemN/hemZ, is suggested for the observed coregulation of heme biosynthesis and the anaerobic respiratory energy metabolism. Finally, only hemZwas found to be fivefold induced by the presence of H2O2, indicating further coregulation of heme biosynthesis with the formation of the tetrapyrrole enzyme catalase.
Analyzing and modelling exchange rate data using VAR framework

In this report analysis of foreign exchange rates time series are performed. First, triangular arbitrage is detected and eliminated from data series using linear algebra tools. Then Vector Autoregressive processes are calibrated and used to replicate dynamics of exchange rates as well as to forecast time series. Finally, optimal portfolio of currencies with minimal Expected Shortfall is formed using one time period ahead forecasts.
An evaluation of neighbourhood decentralisation. Part 1: customer and citizen perspectives

This article presents an evaluation of a radical decentralisation initiative undertaken by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It considers the degree to which the initiative has improved service delivery and involved residents in decision-making. Decentralisation emerges not as a 'cure-all' for the problems of local government but as presenting some advantages. A second article to be published in the next issue of the journal will examine decentralisation from the perspective of staff and councillors.
Choices of crisis

This comment on Larner's (2011) article deals with the political power of certain conceptualisations of neoliberalism and questions the Anglo-American ways of reading the history of neoliberalism. The inclusion of key moments of neoliberalisation and crisis outside the Anglo-American world would provide different readings of the processes of neoliberalisation. The ‘choice’ of crises matters for our understanding of the contemporary neoliberal condition.
Perceptions of informal safety nets: A case study from a South African informal settlement

The relevance and importance of informal safety nets that buffer poor households from livelihood hardships have been given little attention in South Africa's development programmes to date. This article contributes to the understanding of informal safety nets by investigating local perceptions in a South African informal settlement. The main findings of the study are that families perform an important safety net function, but that these sources of assistance can be susceptible to social isolation. Immediate neighbours and friends also play an important safety net role, but these reciprocal-based sources of assistance may be difficult to secure. Community-wide threats can have a severe impact on people's ability to engage in safety net transfers. Many of these difficulties stem from South Africa's structural unemployment crisis. This factor is the greatest danger to the future of the informal safety net system in the informal settlement.
Association between Helicobacter pylori eradication and the risk of coronary heart diseases

The evidences on the association of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) to coronary heart diseases (CHD) are conflicting. In order to answer this important but yet unanswered clinical health issue, a large cohort study such as big data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database should be more convincing. Therefore, we aimed to make use of these big data source to analyze and clarify the relevance of H. pylori eradication and CHD risks. We looked through a total of 208196 patients with peptic ulcer diseases (PUD) from the years of 2000 to 2011. First, 3713 patients who received H. pylori eradication within 365 days of the index date were defined as the group A. We randomly selected the same number of patients as cohort A from 55249 non-eradication patients to be the comparison group B using propensity scores (including age, gender and comorbidity) so that we could control the confounding variables of CHD and mortality. Importantly, we perform sensitivity analysis for the time-dependent association between H. pylori eradication and risk of CHD, interactions between patient demographic characteristics and therapy by age (≥ or < 65 years old). The results showed that a trend of decreased association of CHD in patients with early eradication was observed compared to those without eradication (2.58% vs. 3.35%, p = 0.0905). The mortality rate was lower in early eradication subgroup compared to cohort B (2.86% vs. 4.43%, p = 0.0033). Interestingly, there was also significant difference observed in composite end-points for CHD and death in the early eradication subgroup (0.16% vs.0.57%, p = 0.0133). Further, the cumulative CHD rate was significantly lower in younger patients (< 65 years old) with H. pylori eradication therapy started < 1 year compared to those patients without eradication at all (p = 0.0384); the treatment did not appear to have an effect in older patients (≥ 65 years old) (p = 0.1963). Multivariate analysis showed that hypertension and renal diseases were risk factors for CHD in patients without eradication whilst younger age (< 65 years old) initiated with H. pylori therapy was a protective factor. In conclusion, the trend of decrease in CHD occurrence after early H. pylori eradication in addition to the significant decrease in composite end points for CHD and death, the significantly lower cumulative CHD rate in younger patients < 65 years old with H. pylori treated within 365 days suggested that there was positive association between H. pylori eradication and CHD.
Risk Factors for Prolonged Postoperative Opioid Use After Spinal Fusion for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis.

BACKGROUND Opioids are commonly used after posterior spinal instrumented fusion (PSIF) for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Prescription opioids use can potentially lead to misuse, abuse, dependence, and overdose death. Prolonged opioid use has not been extensively studied in the postoperative AIS population. The purpose of this study is to identify risk factors associated with prolonged opioid use after PSIF for AIS. METHODS A large insurance database was queried for AIS patients undergoing PSIF. Patients with prolonged postoperative opioid use were defined as those receiving new prescriptions for an opioid medication >6 weeks following the date of surgery, up to 8 months postoperatively. Preoperative and intraoperative risk factors for prolonged opioid use were then examined, including the number of spinal levels fused, preoperative opioid prescriptions, demographic variables, pertinent comorbidities (anxiety, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism) and other preoperative prescriptions (anxiolytics, antidepressants, nonopioid analgesics, neuropathic medications, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medications). Each variable's independent risk for prolonged postoperative opioid use was examined utilizing a multivariable binomial regression analysis. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS A total of 511 patients were included in the study. Of this 50 patients (9.78%) were found to have prolonged opioid use following scoliosis surgery. Preoperative opioid use (odds ratio, 2.93; P<0.001) was the most significant predictor of prolonged postoperative opioid use. In addition, female sex, obesity, a preoperative diagnosis of anxiety and a preoperative prescription for a muscle relaxer were also significant positive risk factors for prolonged postoperative opioid use. Several factors were found to be protective against prolonged postoperative opioid use. Fewer total fusion levels, compared with ≥13 levels, had a significantly lower risk of prolonged opioid use. Preoperative anxiolytic and antidepressant use were also both negative predictors of prolonged opioid use. CONCLUSIONS Efforts at addressing preoperative opioid use, anxiety, obesity, and providing multimodal pain management strategies should be considered to reduce additional postoperative opioid prescriptions after PSIF for AIS. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Level III-retrospective comparative study.