Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intellectual Capital Drivers of Product and Managerial Innovation in High‐Tech and Low‐Tech Firms

There is widespread understanding that intellectual capital (IC), consisting of the valuable knowledge resources of an organization, is a key enabler of innovation activities; however, little is known about the more specific contingencies impacting the relationship between IC and innovation. Thus, this article examines firm technology level and innovation type as contingency variables. It was argued that because high-tech and low-tech firms differ in terms of several knowledge characteristics (complexity, tacitness and pace of renovation), it is likely that their innovation performance is supported by different combinations of IC components. Furthermore, differences between product/service and managerial innovation could also lead to changes in the degree of relevance of various IC components. To test these contingency hypotheses, a survey dataset collected from 180 Spanish companies is analysed using structural equation modelling. The results demonstrate that both firm's technology level and type of innovation affect how IC influences innovation performance. The findings contribute to a knowledge-based perspective on innovation and pave the way for a more context-sensitive and contingency-mindful approach to understanding innovation and knowledge-based value creation.
Design and optimization on reconfigurable butterfly core for a real-time FFT processor

Runtime reconfigurable FFT processors on scale of data frame samples are being concerned and designed. A novel solution based on the reusable butterfly core is proposed for achievement of reconfigurable FFT processors. An alternative mixed fabric in radix-4 and radix-2 is applied to the proposed butterfly core. Parallel in-place memory access rule is proposed to fulfill the range of data frame sample scale, from 1024 to 16, with the recursive architecture of the single butterfly core. Implementation of the proposed FFT processor is under the technology of SMIC 0. 18µm CMOS, which gets to 3 ns on critical path and 2 mm2 of a core area by reason of the optimization solution on data paths with 4–2 compressor clusters, instead of regular adders, and on data A, which is the data without rotation in the dragonfly core, with preprocessing1.
Degradation of Myogenic Transcription Factor MyoD by the Ubiquitin Pathway In Vivo and In Vitro: Regulation by Specific DNA Binding

ABSTRACT MyoD is a tissue-specific transcriptional activator that acts as a master switch for skeletal muscle differentiation. Its activity is induced during the transition from proliferating, nondifferentiated myoblasts to resting, well-differentiated myotubes. Like many other transcriptional regulators, it is a short-lived protein; however, the targeting proteolytic pathway and the underlying regulatory mechanisms involved in the process have remained obscure. It has recently been shown that many short-lived regulatory proteins are degraded by the ubiquitin system. Degradation of a protein by the ubiquitin system proceeds via two distinct and successive steps, conjugation of multiple molecules of ubiquitin to the target protein and degradation of the tagged substrate by the 26S proteasome. Here we show that MyoD is degraded by the ubiquitin system both in vivo and in vitro. In intact cells, the degradation is inhibited by lactacystin, a specific inhibitor of the 26S proteasome. Inhibition is accompanied by accumulation of high-molecular-mass MyoD-ubiquitin conjugates. In a cell-free system, the proteolytic process requires both ATP and ubiquitin and, like the in vivo process, is preceded by formation of ubiquitin conjugates of the transcription factor. Interestingly, the process is inhibited by the specific DNA sequence to which MyoD binds: conjugation and degradation of a MyoD mutant protein which lacks the DNA-binding domain are not inhibited. The inhibitory effect of the DNA requires the formation of a complex between the DNA and the MyoD protein. Id1, which inhibits the binding of MyoD complexes to DNA, abrogates the effect of DNA on stabilization of the protein.
Serum-Mediated Activation of Macrophages Reflects TcVac2 Vaccine Efficacy against Chagas Disease

ABSTRACT Chagas disease is endemic in Latin America and an emerging infectious disease in the United States. No effective treatments are available. The TcG1, TcG2, and TcG4 antigens are highly conserved in clinically relevant Trypanosoma cruzi isolates and are recognized by B and T cells in infected hosts. Delivery of these antigens as a DNA prime/protein boost vaccine (TcVac2) elicited lytic antibodies and type 1 CD8+ T cells that expanded upon challenge infection and provided >90% control of parasite burden and myocarditis in chagasic mice. Here we determined if peripheral blood can be utilized to capture the TcVac2-induced protection from Chagas disease. We evaluated the serum levels of T. cruzi kinetoplast DNA (TckDNA), T. cruzi 18S ribosomal DNA (Tc18SrDNA), and murine mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) as indicators of parasite persistence and tissue damage and monitored the effect of sera on macrophage phenotype. Circulating TckDNA/Tc18SrDNA and mtDNA were decreased by >3- to 5-fold and 2-fold, respectively, in vaccinated infected mice compared to nonvaccinated infected mice. Macrophages incubated with sera from vaccinated infected mice exhibited M2 surface markers (CD16, CD32, CD200, and CD206), moderate proliferation, a low oxidative/nitrosative burst, and a regulatory/anti-inflammatory cytokine response (interleukin-4 [IL-4] plus IL-10 > tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α]). In comparison, macrophages incubated with sera from nonvaccinated infected mice exhibited M1 surface markers, vigorous proliferation, a substantial oxidative/nitrosative burst, and a proinflammatory cytokine response (TNF-α ≫ IL-4 plus IL-10). Cardiac infiltration of macrophages and TNF-α and oxidant levels were significantly reduced in TcVac2-immunized chagasic mice. We conclude that circulating TcDNA and mtDNA levels and macrophage phenotype mediated by serum constituents reflect in vivo levels of parasite persistence, tissue damage, and inflammatory/anti-inflammatory state and have potential utility in evaluating disease severity and efficacy of vaccines and drug therapies.
Deterministic and probabilistic analysis of static voltage stability in power systems

The mechanism of static voltage stability was examined by a visual explanation, in that way, the static voltage stability criterion was obtained. It was indicated that the static voltage stability is determined by both characteristics in generation side and characteristics in load side. Then each kind of two-dimensional plane analysis can be unified in three-dimensional space. It is pointed that both critical voltage and voltage stability margin should be use for indexes. The impact of load model on static voltage stability is discussed by both deterministic and probabilistic analysis method.
Selective Chk1 inhibitors differentially sensitize p53‐deficient cancer cells to cancer therapeutics

The majority of cancer therapeutics induces DNA damage to kill cells. Normal proliferating cells undergo cell cycle arrest in response to DNA damage, thus allowing DNA repair to protect the genome. DNA damage induced cell cycle arrest depends on an evolutionarily conserved signal transduction network in which the Chk1 kinase plays a critical role. In mammalian cells, the p53 and RB pathways further augment the cell cycle arrest response to prevent catastrophic cell death. Given the fact that most tumor cells suffer defects in the p53 and RB pathways, it is likely that tumor cells would depend more on the Chk1 kinase to maintain cell cycle arrest than would normal cells. Therefore Chk1 inhibition could be used to specifically sensitize tumor cells to DNA‐damaging agents. We have previously shown that siRNA‐mediated Chk1 knockdown abrogates DNA damage‐induced checkpoints and potentiates the cytotoxicity of several DNA‐damaging agents in p53‐deficient cell lines. In this study, we have developed 2 potent and selective Chk1 inhibitors, A‐690002 and A‐641397, and shown that these compounds abrogate cell cycle checkpoints and potentiate the cytotoxicity of topoisomerase inhibitors and γ‐radiation in p53‐deficient but not in p53‐proficient cells of different tissue origins. These results indicate that it is feasible to achieve a therapeutic window with 1 or more Chk1 inhibitors in potentiation of cancer therapy based on the status of the p53 pathway in a wide spectrum of tumor types. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Research and Teaching on Social Issues: Some Accomplishments and Future Challenges

This essay comments on some accomplishments and future challenges concerning research and teaching in social issues. The author chaired the All-Academy of Management Task Force on Ethics. The SIM Division’s role is to examine critically the suitability of the actions and policies of business managers, organizations (mostly business firms), and the free market system itself. The scope of inquiry covers ethics, governance of organizations, and stakeholders. The emphasis in that inquiry is on the benefits and harms to people from businesses and the market system. Three major issues deserve our examination: 1) the growing influence of the global corporation, 2) global climate change and the negative environmental impact of our lifestyles, and 3) the moral maturity or lack thereof of contemporary decision makers and citizens. Corporations have immense influence, reflected in the growing role of lobbying. Environmental degradation is one of the most serious problems that face people of our ever smaller planet, so it challenges us to examine our lifestyles and the carbon footprint of our actions. We are now able to research and teach the development of good moral habits (virtues) and character.
Patient‐controlled Analgesia after Major Shoulder Surgery: Patient‐controlled Interscalene Analgesia versus Patient‐controlled Analgesia

Background: The authors compared patient‐controlled interscalene analgesia (PCIA) with local anesthetics with intravenous patient‐controlled analgesia (PCA) with opioids to manage postoperative pain after major shoulder surgery. Methods: Forty patients scheduled for elective major shoulder surgery were prospectively randomized to receive either PCIA or PCA. Before surgery, all patients had an interscalene block. In the PCIA group, a catheter was introduced within the interscalene sheath. Six hours after the initial block, patients received for 48 h either a continuous infusion of 0.15% bupivacaine through the interscalene catheter at a rate of 5 ml/h plus a bolus of 3 or 4 ml with a lock‐time of 20 min (group PCIA) or a continuous intravenous infusion of nicomorphine at a rate of 0.5 mg/h plus a bolus of 2 or 3 mg with a lock‐time of 20 min (group PCA). Pain relief was regularly assessed using a visual analog scale, side effects were noted, and the patients were asked to rate their satisfaction at the end of the study. Results: Pain relief was significantly better controlled in the PCIA group at t = 12 and 18 h (P < 0.05). Vomiting and pruritus were 0 versus 25% and 0 versus 25% for the PCIA and PCA groups, respectively (P < 0.05). Patient satisfaction was greater in the PCIA group (P < 0.05). Time of first bolus administration and paracetamol supplement were similar in both groups. Conclusions: The use of the PCIA technique was uncomplicated and provided better pain relief than PCA during the first 18 h after operation. The incidence of side effects such as vomiting and pruritus was significantly decreased with the use of PCIA, and patient satisfaction was superior in the PCIA group.
Direct Interaction between Quorum-sensing Regulator SmcR and RNA Polymerase Is Mediated by Integration Host Factor to Activate vvpE Encoding Elastase in Vibrio vulnificus*

It has been suggested that quorum sensing is an important signal transduction system regulating the expression of numerous virulence genes in bacterial pathogens. We previously revealed that SmcR, a LuxR homologue of Vibrio vulnificus, activates promoter S, an RpoS-dependent promoter of vvpE encoding a potential virulence factor elastase and binds in vitro to a binding site centered at −196.5. In this study, chromatin immunoprecipitation assays and promoter deletion analyses demonstrated that SmcR binds to the vvpE regulatory region in vivo and directly interacts with RNAP for activation of the vvpE expression. A search for regulatory genes involved in the regulation of elastase production singled out ihfA, which encodes for a subunit of integration host factor (IHF). Levels of both elastase activity and vvpE transcript decreased significantly as a result of inactivation of ihfA, and primer extension analyses demonstrated that IHF regulates the vvpE transcription by activating PS. Direct binding of IHF to the two distinct binding sites centered at −174 and −131, respectively, was determined using an electrophoretic mobility shift assay and a DNase I protection assay. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed that the interaction of SmcR with RNAP in vivo was mediated by IHF. Collectively, the results proposed a model whereby IHF positions SmcR to contact RNAP by looping the vvpE regulatory DNA, thus allowing precise control of the expression level of VvpE during the pathogenesis of V. vulnificus.
Why is There no Simple Way of Measuring Animal Welfare?

Although the physiological and behavioural changes that can indicate poor welfare are generally agreed upon, using these measures in practice sometimes yields results that are hard to interpret. For example, different types of measure may suggest quite different things about an animal's welfare. Such contradictions are often due to the differing properties of the variables being measured. How each variable responds to a stressor can be affected by several factors - the type of unpleasant stimulus to which the animal is exposed; when and for how long exposure occurs; the animal's psychological state, eg does it feel that it is in control? ; and the time at which the measurement is made, relative to the stressor. Typical responses also often differ between species and between individuals, and may even change in a single individual over time. Furthermore, some responses used to assess welfare lack specificity: they can be elicited by neutral or even pleasant events as well as by aversive ones. Appreciating these factors is vital when designing experiments, when choosing what to measure along with each welfare variable, and when interpreting results. Even after taking these factors into consideration, interpreting a result can still be difficult. One approach then is to consider the effects on welfare of the changes measured, eg if there is immunosuppression, does the animal succumb to disease? Another is to use the animal's behaviour to indicate its preference for, or aversion to, particular environments. Ultimately, however, interpreting welfare measures involves subjective judgements which will be influenced by the nature of our concern for the animal under consideration. By raising these problems, we hope that this review will highlight and clarify the apparent contradictions that sometimes emerge in scientific studies of animal welfare, and help researchers improve the designs of their experiments for the benefit of the animals concerned.
Nitric oxide‐related vasoconstriction in lungs perfused with red cell lysate

The present study in isolated rat lungs demonstrates that nitric oxide gas (• NO, 70 nM) added to the perfusate containing a small amount of hemolysate [175 μ1 of lysed red blood cells (RBC) per 50 ml of Earle's balanced salt solution (EBSS)] triggered profound and sustained vasoconstriction. Vasoconstriction was not observed when •NO was added to lungs perfused with washed intact rat or human RBC or with oxyhemoglobin (Hgb 20 μM). The presence of hemolysate in the perfusate also caused vasoconstriction in response to n‐acetyl‐cysteine (50 μM), glutathione (10–4 M), or ascorbic acid (10~4 M) and potentiated greatly the vasoconstrictor response to 5 mM KC1. Not only • NO, but also nitroprusside (SNP) or L‐arginine and paradoxically three • NO synthesis inhibitors, including N‐monomethyl L‐arginine, L‐NAME, and nitroblue tetrazolium, which have different mechanisms of action, each caused in the presence of hemolysate large vasoconstrictive responses. Hemolysate itself enhanced O2 consumption by slices of lung; no effects of this dose of • NO on lung slice respiration were seen in the absence of hemolysate. Both Hgb and hemolysate lowered perfusate cGMP levels to the same degree suggesting that the vasoconstrictive response was not due to unique effects of hemolysate on guanylyl cyclase. Addition of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) to the hemolysate containing perfusate, or addition of a cyclooxygenase or 5‐lipoxygenase inhibitor, virtually abolished the • NO induced vasoconstriction. The latter data are consistent with the concept that exposure of the vasculature to hemolysate may result in the formation of peroxynitrite. However, SOD and CAT did not abolish the pulmonary vasoconstriction induced by L‐arginine or by NAC. Our data indicate that hemolysate has profound effects on lung vessel tone regulation and on lung tissue mitochondrial function, yet the precise molecular mechanisms responsible for the action of hemolysate are likely to be very complex. —Voelkel, N. F. , Lobel, K. , Westcott, J. Y. , Burke, T. J. Nitric oxide‐related vasoconstriction in lungs perfused with red cell lysate. FASEB J. 9, 379–386 (1995)
There Is an ‘Unconscious,’ but It May Well Be Conscious

Depth psychology finds empirical validation today in a variety of observations that suggest the presence of causally effective mental processes outside conscious experience. I submit that this is due to misinterpretation of the observations: the subset of consciousness called “meta-consciousness” in the literature is often mistaken for consciousness proper, thereby artificially creating space for an “unconscious. ” The implied hypothesis is that all mental processes may in fact be conscious, the appearance of unconsciousness arising from our dependence on self-reflective introspection for gauging awareness. After re-interpreting the empirical data according to a philosophically rigorous definition of consciousness, I show that two well-known phenomena corroborate this hypothesis: (a) experiences that, despite being conscious, aren’t re-represented during introspection; and (b) dissociated experiences inaccessible to the executive ego. If consciousness is inherent to all mentation, it may be fundamental in nature, as opposed to a product of particular types of brain function.
Nuclear receptor BgFTZ‐F1 regulates molting and the timing of ecdysteroid production during nymphal development in the hemimetabolous insect Blattella germanica

Postembryonic development of holometabolous and hemimetabolous insects occurs through successive molts triggered by 20‐hydroxyecdysone (20E). The molecular action of 20E has been extensively studied in holometabolous insects, but data on hemimetabolous are scarce. We have demonstrated that during the nymphal development of the hemimetabolous insect Blattella germanica, 20E binds to the heterodimeric receptor formed by the nuclear receptors BgEcR‐A and BgRXR activating a cascade of gene expression, including the nuclear receptors BgE75 and BgHR3. Herein, we report the characterization of BgFTZ‐F1, another nuclear hormone receptor involved in 20E action. BgFTZ‐F1 is activated at the end of each instar, and RNAi has demonstrated that BgHR3 is needed for BgFTZ‐F1 activation, and that BgFTZ‐F1 has critical functions of during the last nymphal instar. Nymphs with silenced BgFTZ‐F1 cannot ecdyse, arrest development, and show structures of ectodermal origin duplicated. BgFTZ‐F1 also controls the timing of the ecdysteroid molting pulse. Developmental Dynamics 237:3179–3191, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Development of Bulk Material Management System and Research on Material Balance Applications Based on Business Intelligence

Business intelligence and big data analytics have become increasingly important in both academic and business communities over the past decades. Nuclear power projects involve various bulk materials and the quantities are huge. However, bulk material management in design, procurement and construction phases is disjointed to an extent thus often causes inaccurate purchase quantity of bulk materials, mismatching of upstream and downstream business schedules, poor coordination between different business segments and etc. As a result there are usually large quantities of bulk materials left at the end of the project causing huge waste. Therefore, we developed Bulk Material Management System based on the source data of Design Institute. By calculating quantities of materials as per engineering drawings we can not only provide procurement department with accurate purchase quantities for reference, but also provide construction department with amount of materials in certain installation areas. Then we do research on material balance and add time attribute to the demand materials on field and the received materials after purchasing so as to link the material items with the schedule, cost and other factors. On this basis we develop material balance report of demand quantity, received quantity and inventory quantity in order to make business intelligence analysis for procurement planning, inventory warning, etc. and thus lead to a better EPC coordination for cost and profit efficiency of the company.
My Do Over: A Case Study of an Intentional Focus on Relationship Building, by the School Leadership, in a Newly Formed School

iv Dedication . vi Acknowledgements . vii Chapter 1 A Problem and A Problem of Practice . 1 A Distinction between a Problem and a Problem of Practice . 2 The Problems of Practice of Four Educational Leaders . 3 Literature Review. 9 School closures . 10 Charter schools’ impact . 11 School closures’ impact on students . 12 School closures’ impact on staff . 14 School closures’ impact on parents . 16 School closures’ impact on community . 17 Relationships and culture . 18 Attribution Theory . 20 Relationships and the workplace . 22 Recovering damaged relationships . 23 Staff and the development of culture . 24 Leadership Styles . 28 Resilience Framework . 32 Context Review . 37 History of the researcher . 38 History of the district . 42 Importance of integration . 43 Unitary Status. 44 Plan for Excellence . 46 2014 Plan for Excellence . 48 The beginning of a new district . 49 The beginning of a new school . 50 Chapter 2 Methods . 54 Research Design. 54 Data Sources . 54 Data Collection . 55
A comparison of markets with and without switching costs

Research shows that switching costs have effect on prices, market share and competition within the markets. In this paper, an analysis is made regarding switching costs in a two-time period. Consumers valuation influencing the profit is controlled for. This results in two different profit functions, one with and one without switching costs. Our results show indeed, what Klemperer states: markets will become less competitive within markets when switching costs occur.