Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploitation of Capabilities and Opportunities When Exploring Strategic Alternatives in R&D: Case Company

Jarva, Antti. 2011. Exploitation of Capabilities and Opportunities When Exploring Strategic Alternatives in R&D: Case Company. Master's Thesis. Kemi-Tornio University of Applied Sciences. Business and Culture. Pages 61. The main objective of the Thesis is to analyze the Case Company and to construct strategic suggestions to stay competitive. The focus is on exploitation of capabilities and opportunities. Additionally, the Thesis investigates whether the efficiency of utilized resources could be improved further. The strategic suggestions and opportunities for improvement are meant to be beneficial also for the parent company. The Thesis is based on a qualitative research approach. The successful research and development history with major technological shifts in the dynamic industry lay the foundation for this exploratory case study. The theoretical framework was obtained by relevant articles, books and studies. The empirical information was gained through interviews, observations and experiences of my own. The analytical framework comprises external and internal strategic evaluations. Analysis results include organizational strengths and weaknesses, industry specific and social opportunities, and threats. Strategic suggestions are formulated by exploring the most feasible strategic alternatives created. Opportunities for improvements are built for main weaknesses. The results of this study show that the Case Company needs a strategy. It would motivate employees and increase entrepreneurship skills, in addition to specifying the long-term direction. The deployed bottom-up operative approach exploits knowledge of experts and develops organizational capabilities for the purposes of strategic management. According to the findings, the Case Company would be able to gain competitive advantages, for example, via service differentiation and customer collaboration. Furthermore, the management team would need relational capabilities and the role of human resource management could be emphasized. Chapters are not published in their full length in the Library version, since the information in them is classified as confidential.
Egyptian date palm pollen ameliorates testicular dysfunction induced by cadmium chloride in adult male rats

Pollen of the date palm (DPP) has been used for long time as a traditional Egyptian herbal medicine for improving male and female fertility. The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effect and the possible mechanisms of DPP against cadmium-induced testicular dysfunction in adult male rats. Testicular dysfunction was induced by an oral administration of cadmium chloride (CdCl2, 5mg/kg body wt, every other day for 30 days). Oral administration of DPP (240mg/kg body wt, daily for 30 days) dramatically increased estradiol level of normal rats. Co administration of DPP with CdCl2 significantly restored the reduction in sex organs weight and the decline in sperm counts and their motility as well as the decrease in testosterone level induced by CdCl2 challenge. Treatment with DPP counteracted the increases in antioxidant systems in rat testis as assessed by restoration of reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). Co administration of DPP with CdCl2 inhibited the abnormalities in testicular morphology, but partially attenuated the elevation in the percentage of testicular DNA damage induced by CdCl2. This study provides evidence that DPP exert a significant protective effect against testicular dysfunction induced by CdCl2 through increases in estradiol level as well as normalization of testosterone levels and sperm parameters. This report also shows some evidence that DPP protects rat's testicular tissue via suppressing testicular histological abnormalities and modulating its DNA damage.
Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization (FISH) Copy Number Abnormalities at 6p (RREB1), 6q (MYB), and 11q (CCND1) Reliably Distinguish Metastatic Versus Benign Melanocytic Lesions

Objectives: Malignant melanoma can be difficult to distinguish from a benign melanocytic lesion by histology. In this study, we investigated the sensitivity and specificity of FISH to distinguish between benign nevi and metastatic melanomas to lymph nodes. Methods: Multicolour FISH was performed using a commercially available probeset (Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL), on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples from 40 tumours: 20 benign melanocytic nevi, and 20 metastatic melanomas within lymph nodes, as determined by histologic assessment. Fluorescent signals for each probe were enumerated by 2 observers in 30 cells each per lesion. An algorithm using signal counts from a combination of 4 probes targeting chromosome 6p25 (containing RREB1 gene), 6 centromere (CEP6), 6q23 (containing MYB gene), and 11q13 (containing CCND1 gene) was used as suggested by the manufacturer. Results: Of the 20 metastatic melanomas assessed, 18 were FISH positive. FISH detected significant abnormal nuclei for RREB1 in 17/20 cases (85%) and significant MYB loss in 12/20 cases (60%). Average signals per nuclei greater than 2.5 for CCND1 and MYB were present in only 7/20 (35%) and 4/20 (20%) cases respectively. All 20 benign nevi were FISH negative. Overall, the FISH test showed a sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 100% in the diagnosis of metastatic melanoma in lymph nodes. Conclusions: These results provide further compelling evidence for the utility of multicolour FISH directed against 6p25 (RREB1), centromere 6, 6q23 (MYB), and 11q13 (CCND1) as an aid in determining malignant behavior in melanocytic lesions.
Insights into the Pathogenic Secondary Symptoms Caused by the Primary Loss of Dystrophin

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked genetic disease in which the dystrophin gene is mutated, resulting in dysfunctional dystrophin protein. Without dystrophin, the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC) is unstable, leading to an increase in muscle damage. Moreover, the imbalance between muscle damage and repair leads to a chronic inflammatory response and an increase in the amount of fibrosis over time. The absence of dystrophin at the sarcolemma also delocalizes and downregulates nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) and alters enzymatic antioxidant responses, leading to an increase in oxidative stress. In this review, we analyze the pathogenic role of both inflammation and oxidative stress in muscular dystrophy.
Different sources of delay and acceleration in early child bilingualism

Abstract The present article argues that the two effects observed in bilingual first language acquisition, delay and acceleration, have different sources. Whereas delay can be due to cross-linguistic influence on the competence or the performance level and to the mere cognitive burden to process two languages, acceleration is always rooted in efficient computation in a non-linguistic sense. The evidence for the difference between delay and acceleration effects stems from children who are raised bilingually from birth and who are studied during spontaneous speech production. It falls out rather naturally that linguistic development is immune to acceleration, while it can be delayed in bilingual children as compared to monolinguals.
Dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium, denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation in paddy soil

Nitrogen (N) is the most important yield-limiting nutrient for rice production. Flooding of rice paddies for an extended period of time creates anoxic conditions in soil which can favour a simultaneous occurrence of several microbial N transformation processes, such as dissimilatory nitrate (NO3) reduction to ammonium (NH4) (DNRA), denitrification and anaerobic NH4 oxidation (anammox). Little is known about the role of DNRA and anammox in N cycling in paddy soils, and of the simultaneous occurrence of these N transformations. This study utilized a N isotopic approach to determine the rates of DNRA, denitrification and anammox processes simultaneously in a paddy soil. The paddy soil was collected from the Riverina region in New South Wales, Australia and studied under laboratory conditions. The rates of the processes were investigated after a week of flooding of paddy soil after a basal dose of N application at the rate of 1.6 g N m (farmers practice in the region). Results showed that DNRA contributed to the formation of 0.34 μmole NH4-N hr kg soil. Denitrification and anammox produced 3.35 μmole N2 and 0.65 μmole N2 hr kg soil, respectively. Denitrification was the major pathway contributing to N2 production which accounted for 83% of total N2 produced. Anammox contributed to 17% of total N2 production. Considering the bulk density of soil (1.3 g cm), it can be estimated that DNRA can retain 0.03 g N m day, whereas denitrification and anammox can contribute to a loss of 0.58 and 0.11 g N m day, respectively, after the first week of flooding of paddy soil.
GENERATING HIGH LEVEL CONTEXT FROM SENSOR DATA FOR MOBILE APPLICATIONS

Context-awareness is an important element for developing mobile services. Often, context is available as sensor data but not in a form that can be exploited in (mobile) applications. In this paper, we present an approach to generate high level context from sensor data. First, we describe a process model and illustrate this model by a case study with an acceleration sensor. Then we explain the design and implementation of software components that are integrated in a framework supporting the development of mobile applications. Thus, we demonstrate the evolution of sensor data from raw data streams to aggregated data and to interpreted information.
The School of Business 2-14-2013 Ethics-InAction : An Application Of Structuration Theory In Professional Service Firms

A theoretical base for studying ethics in action is developed. In previous work, we propose a responsibility ethic, normative stakeholder theory, and discourse ethics as components of ethical decision making within organizational contexts. Here, we argue that structuration theory provides theoretical depth and conceptual integration to the ideas presented in our earlier work. The previous work is briefly discussed and structuration theory is reviewed. Ethically informed action is formulated within the context of structuration theory as a consideration and instantiation of structural features. Ethical action is predicated on the agent’s accountability within the context of an ongoing community. Accountability requires the explication of reasons for one’s actions and the justification, or legitimation (normative grounds) for the reasons given. The question of expert systems applications within a professional service organization is used as the vehicle for illustrating how the theoretical ideas might be implemented in identifying and addressing ethical dilemmas.
Reconstituted and Increases Basement Membrane Reduces Proli Prolactin Expression of GH 3 Cells feration

This study investigated the effects of reconstituted basement membrane Matrigel on the proliferation and prolactin expression of GH3 cells in culture for 6 days. When cells were cultured on Matrigel, the initial attachment was increased but the cell number was not changed with time whereas rapid increase in cell number was observed in cultures on plastic. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-labeling showed that BrdU incorporation ratio of GH3 cells cultured on Matrigel was about one half of that observed with cells cultured on plastic (9.7±0.7% vs. 18.7± 1.2%). Immunocytochemistry revealed that the ratio of the prolactin-immunoreactive GH3 cells was about 3.6 times (58.4± 2.9% on Matrigel vs. 16.2± 1.4% on plastic), which was compatible with the results of Western blot analysis. In situ hybridization demonstrated that prolactin mRNA-positive cells were identified more frequently when cells were cultured on Matrigel compared to cultures on plastic. These findings indicate that Matrigel is a proper culture substrate for the long-term culture of GH3 pituitary cells due to the inhibition of overgrowth and promotion of prolactin expression.
Öğretmen Eğitimi Sürecinin Bilişim Teknolojileri Öğretmen Adaylarının Mesleki Kimlikleri Üzerindeki Etkisi

Bu arastirmanin amaci, ogretmen egitimi surecinin Bilisim Teknolojileri (BT) ogretmen adaylarinin mesleki kimlikleri uzerindeki etkisini incelemektir. Nitel arastirma desenlerinden temel yorumlayici desen kullanilarak gerceklestirilen arastirmaya Ankara Universitesi, Hacettepe Universitesi ve Gazi Universitesi, Bilgisayar ve Ogretim Teknolojileri Egitimi programinda 2016-2017 egitim-ogretim yilinda ogrenim gormekte olan 36 ogretmen adayi katilmistir. Ogretmen adaylari amacli ornekleme yontemi kullanilarak belirlenmistir. Bu ogretmen adaylarindan 13’u Ankara Universitesinde, 13’u Hacettepe Universitesinde, 10’u ise Gazi Universitesinde ogrenim gormektedir. Katilimcilarin 12’si erkek, 24’u kadindir. Arastirmanin verileri arastirmaci tarafindan gelistirilen yari yapilandirilmis gorusme formu ile toplanmis ve tumevarimsal icerik analizi kullanilarak cozumlenmistir. Sonuclar gostermistir ki; arastirmaya katilan BT ogretmen adaylarinin yarisindan fazlasi ogretmenligini yapmak uzere mezun olduklari BT alanini ve BT ogretmenlerinin kim olduklarini net bir bicimde tanimlayamamaktadir. Kendilerini meslegini surdurme konusunda yeterli, ozguvenli ve istekli hissetmeyen BT ogretmen adaylari, aldiklari egitimin kendilerini iyi bir BT ogretmeni olarak gormeleri icin yeterli olmadigini dusunmektedirler. Ote yandan, katilimcilarin gelistirmis oldugu mesleki kimlikler uzerinde ogretmen egitimi surecinde aldiklari egitimin niteliginin, ogretim uyeleri ile kurulan iletisim ve etkilesimin, okul deneyimi surecinin ve saglanan kurumsal destegin onemli etkileri oldugu belirlenmistir. Arastirma ile ulasilan sonuclara dayali olarak BT ogretmen adaylarinin mesleki yetersizlik algisi ve olumsuz mesleki kimlik ile mezun olmamalari icin yapilmasi gerekenler tartisilmistir.
The Empirics of Banking Regulation 1

This paper empirically assesses whether banking regulation is effective at preventing banking crises. We use a monthly index of banking system fragility, which captures almost every source of risk in the banking system, to estimate the effect of regulatory measures (entry restriction, reserve requirement, deposit insurance, and capital adequacy requirement) on banking stability in the context of a Markov-switching model. Our methodology is less prone to selection and simultaneity bias which are common in this type of study. We apply this method to the Indonesian banking system, which has been subject to several regulatory changes over the last couple of decades, and at the same time, has experienced a severe systemic crisis. We draw the following findings from this research : (i) entry restriction reduces crisis duration as well as the probability of such an occurrence; (ii) larger reserve requirements reduce crisis duration, but increase banking instability; (iii) deposit insurance increases banking system stability and reduces crisis duration; (vi) capital adequacy requirement improves stability and reduces the expected duration of banking crises. Finally, we find that previous studies present a negative simultaneity bias for deposit insurance and a negative selection bias for capital adequacy requirement.
Analyzing Patterns of Eye Movements in Social Interactions

Eye gaze plays an important role in human communication. One foundational skill in human social interaction is joint attention which is receiving increased interest in particular in the area of human-agent or human-robot interaction. We are focusing here on patterns of gaze interaction that emerge in the process of establishing joint attention. The approach, however, should be applicable to many other aspects of social communication in which eye gaze plays an important role. Attention has been characterized as an increased awareness 1 and intentionally directed perception 2 and is judged to be crucial for goal-directed behavior. Joint attention can be defined as simultaneously allocating attention to a target as a consequence of attending to each other's attentional states 3. In other words: Interlocutors have to deliberatively focus on the same target while being mutually aware of sharing their focus of attention 2 4.
Set-based optimal control in 3 D time-varying velocity fields using α-shapes

Vehicles in time-varying, non-uniform currents, such as autonomous vehicles in underwater and atmospheric settings, present a difficult optimization problem in charting time-optimal paths from a given source to a given destination. The problem is especially challenging in the case of weakly propelled vehicles, where the current is stronger than the propulsion and the system is not fully controllable. Recent progress has been made on the general optimal control problem by using front propagation to track the boundary of a reachable set. This work presents a significant advancement on that technique by using alpha shapes to dynamically mesh the reachable set boundary in three dimensional space. This process permits the solution, for the first time, of globally time-optimal trajectories in three dimensional spatiotemporally varying flows. The method is presented and demonstrated on an example chaotic flow.
A Single-Site, Investigator Initiated Open-Label Trial of H.P. Acthar® Gel (Repository Corticotropin Injection) an Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH) Analogue in Subjects with Moderately to Severely Active Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA)

Although several therapeutic agents are available for psoriatic arthritis (PsA), each has limitations. Acthar® Gel (repository corticotropin injection) is FDA-approved for treatment of acute episodes or exacerbation of PsA, but no clinical trials have investigated it for those uses. This 28-week, prospective, single-center, open-label trial included subjects with moderately to severely active PsA. The primary outcome measure was ACR20 at Week 12. Secondary outcomes included ACR20 at Week 24, ACR50, ACR70, Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI), Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) 50, PASI 75, Physician Global Assessment, Patient Global Assessment, Tender and Swollen Joint Count, Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for measurement of pain, acute erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and pre-injection and postinjection cortisol levels at Weeks 12 and 24. Safety, including adverse events and vital signs, were monitored throughout. Among subjects initially enrolled (n = 15), 8 completed Week 12; 7 finished Week 24. All 8 achieved ACR20 at Week 12. At Weeks 12 and 24 there were significant improvements in CDAI, Physician Global Assessment, Patient Global Assessment, Tender and Swollen Joint Count, and VAS (all P ≤ 0.001). At Week 12, 87.5% of subjects reached ACR50, ACR70, PASI50, and PASI75, and 100% did at Week 24. There were no differences in pre-injection or post-injection cortisol levels, ESR, or CRP. Three subjects withdrew early (2 worse psoriasis, 1 depression), but no other adverse events were observed. The remaining 4 patients withdrew for logistical reasons only.
HOLIMO II: a digital holographic instrument for ground-based in situ observations of microphysical properties of mixed-phase clouds

Abstract. Measurements of the microphysical properties of mixed-phase clouds with high spatial resolution are important to understand the processes inside these clouds. This work describes the design and characterization of the newly developed ground-based field instrument HOLIMO II (HOLographic Imager for Microscopic Objects II). HOLIMO II uses digital in-line holography to in situ image cloud particles in a well-defined sample volume. By an automated algorithm, two-dimensional images of single cloud particles between 6 and 250 μm in diameter are obtained and the size spectrum, the concentration and water content of clouds are calculated. By testing the sizing algorithm with monosized beads a systematic overestimation near the resolution limit was found, which has been used to correct the measurements. Field measurements from the high altitude research station Jungfraujoch, Switzerland, are presented. The measured number size distributions are in good agreement with parallel measurements by a fog monitor (FM-100, DMT, Boulder USA). The field data shows that HOLIMO II is capable of measuring the number size distribution with a high spatial resolution and determines ice crystal shape, thus providing a method of quantifying variations in microphysical properties. A case study over a period of 8 h has been analyzed, exploring the transition from a liquid to a mixed-phase cloud, which is the longest observation of a cloud with a holographic device. During the measurement period, the cloud does not completely glaciate, contradicting earlier assumptions of the dominance of the Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen (WBF) process.
Spin alignment and differential accretion in merging black hole binaries

DG is supported by the UK Science and Technology Facility Council and the Isaac Newton Studentship of the University of Cambridge; partial support is also acknowledged from FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG Grant No. 293412, FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IRSES Grant No.295189, SDSC and TACC through XSEDE Grant No. PHY-090003 by the NSF, Finis Terrae through Grant No. ICTS-CESGA-249, ERC-2013-ADG Grant No. 341137, STFC Roller Grant No. ST/L000636/1 and DiRAC’s Cosmos Shared Memory system through BIS Grant No. ST/J005673/1 and STFC Grant Nos. ST/H008586/1, ST/K00333X/1.
Diagnostic prediction on anamnesis in digital primary health care

Primary health care is facing extensive changes due to digitalization, while the field of application for machine learning is expanding. The merging of these two fields could result in a range of outcomes, one of them being an improved and more rigorous adoption of clinical decision support systems. Clinical decision support systems have been around for a long time but are still not fully adopted in primary health care due to insufficient performance and interpretation. Clinical decision support systems have a range of supportive functions to assist the clinician during decision making, where one of the most researched topics is diagnostic support. This thesis investigates how the use of self-described anamnesis in the form of free text and multiple-choice questions performs in prediction of diagnostic outcome. The chosen approach is to compare text to different subsets of multiple-choice questions for diagnostic prediction on a range of classification methods. The results indicate that text data holds a substantial amount of information, and that the multiple-choice questions used in this study are of varying quality, yet suboptimal compared to text data. The overall tendency is that Support Vector Machines perform well on text classification and that Random Forests and Naive Bayes have equal performance to Support Vector Machines on multiple-choice questions.