Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The onset of parvalbumin‐expression in interneurons of the rat parietal cortex depends upon extrinsic factor(s)

Parvalbumin (PV) belongs to the large family of EF‐hand calcium‐binding proteins and is an excellent marker for a subpopulation of GABAergic neocortical interneurons. During cortical development, PV first appears on postnatal day (P)8, in the infragranular layers; after P14, it also becomes apparent within the supragranular layers. However, nothing is known about the factors controlling its expression, which could involve functional activity, neuronal connectivity and/or neurotrophic factors. It being difficult to manipulate these parameters in vivo, their role may be more readily assessed in organotypic cultures, which are deprived of their subcortical afferents and efferents, and hence of subcortically derived neurotrophic factors and extrinsic functional activity. We prepared slices of the rat brain on P3, P5, P7 and P9, maintained them in culture for 2–5 weeks, and compared the temporal and spatial distribution pattern of PV‐immunoreactivity within these slices with the in vivo situation. We found, first, that during late postnatal in vivo development and ageing, the number of PV‐immunoreactive neurons in the parietal cortex decreases significantly, and second, that the expression of PV‐immunoreactivity in the parietal cortex was markedly influenced by the phase of postnatal development at which slice cultures were explanted. In those removed on P7 and P9, the number of PV‐immunoreactive cells, as well as the temporal and spatial distribution pattern of PV‐immunoreactivity corresponded to the in vivo situation, but in explants obtained on P3 or P5, PV‐immunoreactivity remained confined to layer V of the cortex, reminiscent of the expression profile manifested at the end of the second postnatal week in vivo. Also, the number of PV‐immunoreactive cells in these cultures was significantly lower than in explants at the later stages. Our results indicate that the onset of PV‐expression in the parietal cortex depends upon extrinsic cortical factors subsisting prior to P7. Once the production of this protein has been initiated, such influences are no longer required.
Quantitative diffusion imaging in implanted human breast tumors

Quantitative diffusion measurements were performed in tumors arising from inoculation of nude mice with two human breast cancer cell lines (MCF7 and T47D) to evaluate the specificity of this technique for characterizing solid tumors. ADC maps were compared to histology and correlated well with gross tumor morphology. Measured ADCs were highly specific for viable and necrotic tumor in the five T47D tumors included in this study (P < 0.02), while only two of the five MCF7 tumors studied developed distinguishable areas of necrosis. No statistically significant difference was observed in ADCs from viable tumor between the different cell lines (P > 0.05).
Factors Influencing the Adoption of Mobile Learning

Education delivery by mobile devices enables anywhere / anytime learning. Mobile learning has the potential to allow students to more closely integrate learning activities into their busy lives. At this early stage in its development, this is an opportune time to initiate a stream of research that examines the adoption of m-learning applications. This study determines the key factors influencing the behavioural intention for adoption of mobile learning. Several external variables are incorporated into the Technology Acceptance Model and tested in six New Zealand universities. Six of the seven variables – self-efficacy, perceived usefulness, subjective norm, attitude, perceived ease of use, and perceived financial resources were accepted. Prior use of e-learning was not accepted and reasons for this are explored in the study.
Cross‐sensitization between cocaine and acute restraint stress is associated with sensitized dopamine but not glutamate release in the nucleus accumbens

Repeated administration of psychostimulant drugs or stress can elicit a sensitized response to the stimulating and reinforcing properties of the drug. Here we explore the mechanisms in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) whereby an acute restraint stress augments the acute locomotor response to cocaine. This was accomplished by a combination of behavioral pharmacology, microdialysis measures of extracellular dopamine and glutamate, and Western blotting for GluR1 subunit of the α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) glutamate receptor (AMPAR). A single exposure to restraint stress 3 weeks before testing revealed that enduring locomotor sensitization to cocaine was paralleled by an increase in extracellular dopamine in the core, but not the shell subcompartment, of the NAc. Wistar rats pre‐exposed to acute stress showed increased basal levels of glutamate in the core, but the increase in glutamate by acute cocaine was blunted. The alterations in extracellular glutamate seem to be relevant, as blocking AMPAR by 6‐cyano‐7‐nitroquinoxaline‐2,3‐dione microinjection into the core prevented both the behavioral cross‐sensitization and the augmented increase in cocaine‐induced extracellular dopamine. Further implicating glutamate, the locomotor response to AMPAR stimulation in the core was potentiated, but not in the shell of pre‐stressed animals, and this was accompanied by an increase in NAc GluR1 surface expression. This study provides evidence that the long‐term expression of restraint stress‐induced behavioral cross‐sensitization to cocaine recapitulates some mechanisms thought to underpin the sensitization induced by daily cocaine administration, and shows that long‐term neurobiological changes induced in the NAc by acute stress are consequential in the expression of cross‐sensitization to cocaine.
Auditor Switching and Qualified Audit Opinion: Evidence from Serbia

The awareness of association between auditor switching and the audit opinion is essential when legislation regarding mandatory audit practice is being done. To test the significance of the association, we collect data on audit opinion reports of a random sample that comprises 800 industrial entities from Republic of Serbia. Using Fisher's Exact Test, we conclude that companies that have received unqualified opinion in one period, and subsequently changed their auditor firm, were significantly less likely to receive unqualified opinion in the following period, when compared to companies that have not changed auditor.
Do consumers buy organic food for sustainability or selfish reasons

The expansion of organic agriculture is a key issue in sustainable development. We study consumers’ motives for buying organic food products by analysing the combination of goods in baskets purchased by a panel of French households. Organic proneness can be motivated by concern for sustainable development and/or by self-interest (health or product quality considerations). The pro-social motivation of consumers of organic products is inferred from the presence of ‘Fair Trade’ products in their baskets, whereas consumer self-interest is deduced from the presence of healthy and higher quality labeled products. Our results on effective purchases indicate that buyers of organic products are primarily motivated by sustainability considerations, then by health and finally by expected quality improvement. However, certain household socio demographic characteristics impact on the ranking of self-interested motives. Higher education level, family size and organic loyalty have a positive impact on the quality-related motive for purchasing organic goods.
Alternative Forms of Mortgage Finance: What Can We Learn From Other Countries?

This paper reviews the major characteristics and performance of a number of OECD country mortgage markets. The paper compares and contrasts the structure, principal features and performance of the primary and secondary markets with that of the US. The comparison includes the types of lenders and mortgage instruments in the primary market, institutions and instruments involved in the capital market funding of mortgages, how loans are funded and how major mortgage risks (default and prepayment) are managed. The paper compares and contrasts the role of government in mortgage market regulation, consumer protection and in the backing of institutions and instruments through guarantees and ownership in the primary and secondary market. The goal of the paper is to extract ideas about how the US system can be reformed to improve performance and restore private capital market finance.
Physical Activity and Colorectal Cancer

Physical activity has been shown to reduce risk of colon cancer. Some studies have shown site-specific associations while others have not. The inverse association between physical activity and colon cancer is consistent although only 7 of 13 studies that have collected both colon and rectal cancer data in the same manner report reduced risk for rectal cancer; four of these studies detected statistically significant inverse associations. The frequency, duration and intensity of activity are important components of a public health message to reduce risk of colon cancer through performance of physical activity. However, difficulties in estimating the exact amount of activity needed and frequency and intensity of activity result in only crude estimates of dose needed for a protective effect. Much of the literature suggest that more intense activity is needed to reduce colon cancer risk and that somewhere between 3.5 and 4 hours of vigorous activity per week may be needed to optimise protection. Several biological mechanisms have been proposed to explain the association between physical activity and colon cancer; many of these mechanisms also support the observation that intense activities are most protective. Biological mechanisms include: physical activity increasing gut motility; enhancing the immune system; decreasing insulin and insulin-like growth factor levels; decreasing obesity; enhancing free radical scavenger systems; and influencing prostaglandin levels. The evidence taken together provides strong support for lack of physical activity being causally related to colon cancer. It has been estimated that 12–14% of colon cancer could be attributed to lack of frequent involvement in vigorous physical activity.
Bootstrap Benefit Segmentation as an Experiential Learning Activity

This article introduces an experiential learning activity designed to provide business students with an understanding of benefit segmentation, product positioning, and target markets. This “bootstrap benefit segmentation” method can be taught without the need for primary data. It makes benefit segmentation available as a short-term experiential activity that can be accomplished in one or two class meetings or as an assignment prepared outside of the classroom.
The Management Case for Corporate Social Responsibility

Can Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) provide new arguments to "humanize" the theory of the firm and the management profession? Several arguments (the legal, ethical, social and business cases) have contributed to the discussion of why companies should be socially responsible. In this paper I discuss each of these arguments from the point of view of the manager who asks himself why he should be socially responsible. And I add a set of new reasons that make up the "management case" for CSR. In exploring why CSR is good management, this paper explains why ethics and CSR make the firm more human and humanize the task of the manager.
How Do Australia's Universities Engage with Entrepreneurship and Small Business?

Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) comprise the majority of businesses in the Australian economy. Most are run by owner-managers who have little formal education in business and their level of innovation remains low. Universities offer the potential to enhance both the management skills and competencies of small business owner-managers, and the innovativeness of their firms. This study examines the level of engagement with SMEs by Australia’s universities through a study of their education, research and industry outreach programs as viewed through their website information. The findings show that most universities offer courses in the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation, with some also focusing on small business management. Most of these courses are offered via undergraduate or postgraduate degree programs as individual units or areas of specialisation. Several have specialist degrees in the field of entrepreneurship. Around 21% of Australia’s universities have dedicated centres in entrepreneurship or small business that undertake research and in some cases management education or outreach programs. Others have research centres that undertake research with a relevance to SMEs, and there are also some research programs or groups that conduct studies into SMEs and entrepreneurship. A smaller number have well-designed industry outreach programs targeting SMEs and entrepreneurs. Overall, while Australia’s universities are fairly active in teaching and researching the fields of entrepreneurship, innovation and small business, their level of engagement with SMEs remains limited and is focused on a relatively small number of institutions. In general the “hands on” engagement by academics with SMEs is not a strategic priority within most institutions.
Can Large Retailers Localize Supply Chains? A Case Analysis of the Challenges Facing One Canadian Retailer

Extensive access to a major Canadian retailer (referred to as the Company) provided an opportunity to understand more fully its challenges when buying local food. Many of the Company volume and quality requirements of vendors are difficult to meet because they require a scale sophistication that is typically absent for local growers. Particularly challenging are the needs to lengthen product life, coordinate transport, and aggregate supply. Liability associated with spoiled product is especially onerous for small growers. Using a value supply-chain framework (Stevenson & Pirog, 2008), we conclude that the steps taken by the retailer toward localization will not be successful without significant investments in product differentiation, the financial health of their supplier base, strategic alliances, and shared governance.
Blood Viscosity: Influence of Erythrocyte Aggregation

The addition of purified canine or bovine fibrinogen to suspensions of canine erythocytes in Ringer solution caused an increase in viscosity and the formation of aggregates of erythocytes. Both of these effects became increasingly pronounced as the fibrinogen concentration was raised, and they approached plateaus with 1 gram of fibrinogen per 100 milliliters. An increase in shear rate (or shear stress) reduced both the effect on viscosity and the aggregate size. The data suggest that fibrinogen causes an increase in blood viscosity and a departure from Newtonian behavior by interacting with erythrocytes to form cell aggregates which can be dispersed by shear stress.
Regulation FD and Informed Trading Around Corporate Acquisitions

We examine the effect of Regulation FD (Reg FD) on informed trading before merger announcements. Specifically, we use trade and quote data from TAQ to create a daily buy-sell imbalance measure for our sample of target firms. We use firm size based on the findings of Barber, Odean and Zhu (2008) to classify trades as originating from either individual (uninformed) investors or institutional (informed) investors. We then use the Lee-Ready algorithm to assign each trade that occurred in the 40-day window prior to a merger as either a buy or a sell and test the hypothesis that Reg FD helped to mitigate the informational advantage that institutions had relative to retail traders. We find preliminary support that Reg FD helped to reduce the information asymmetry between the two classes of investors.
Student internships bridge research to real world problems

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate whether unstructured graduate student research internships conducted in collaboration with community agencies build capacity and knowledge for students and community.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports the results of four semi‐structured interviews and 20 pre‐ and post‐internship surveys of students' perceptions of their internship activities; whether participation built research capacity in students and community resulted in the creation of new knowledge and promoted ongoing partnerships and relationships.Findings – Students reported generating concrete outcomes for community partners, the acquisition of new research and professional skills, plus an increased understanding of theoretical knowledge. Many students also maintained ongoing relationships with their organizational partners beyond the terms of their internship.Research limitations/implications – Limitations to this study are the relatively small sample size and reliance on self‐repo.
Surface-directed spinodal decomposition in a two-dimensional model.

We report results from a numerical study of a two-dimensional model for the surface-directed spinodal decomposition in a critical mixture. We explicitly add a long-range surface interaction term to the bulk free-energy functional leading to preferential attraction of one of the components of the mixtures to a free surface. We find that, for sufficiently long-range interactions, the thickness of the wetting layer l(t) varies as l(t)∼t 1/3 . We also find that the magnitudes of the average domain sizes in the parallel and perpendicular directions are different
Disentangling attention from action in the emotional spatial cueing task

In the emotional spatial cueing task, a peripheral cue—either emotional or non-emotional—is presented before target onset. A stronger cue validity effect with an emotional relative to a non-emotional cue (i.e., more efficient responding to validly cued targets relative to invalidly cued targets) is taken as an indication of emotional modulation of attentional processes. However, results from previous emotional spatial cueing studies are not consistent. Some studies find an effect at the validly cued location (shorter reaction times compared to a non-emotional cue), whereas other studies find an effect at the invalidly cued location (longer reaction times compared to a non-emotional cue). In the current paper, we explore which parameters affect emotional modulation of the cue validity effect in the spatial cueing task. Results from five experiments in healthy volunteers led to the conclusion that a threatening spatial cue did not affect attention processes but rather indicate that motor processes are affected. A possible mechanism might be that a strong aversive cue stimulus decreases reaction times by means of stronger action preparation. Consequently, in case of a spatially congruent response with the peripheral cue, a stronger cue validity effect could be obtained due to stronger response priming. The implications for future research are discussed.
Mobile Device Data Security using Enhanced Applictaion lockbox

Smart phones and other mobile devices are widely used in day to day life. One of the important feature of mobile devices is mobility, which exposes them to different threat environments and excludes them from relying on external physical security. So, the security requirements for mobile devices are different from stationary machines. The enterprises, government, and military uses various productive applications. Productive applications often deal with sensitive and secret data. A risk management and security framework is required to protect applications and data on mobile devices. Application lockbox provides another layer of protection for sensitive applications and data in mobile devices. Lockbox has ability to lockout sensitive applications and data. If the lockbox is locked, applications and data inside it should be protected from the attacks on operating system and physical attacks. It will encapsulate individual applications and all their associated data to allow for access control on the application level. It can provide meaningful protection without significant changes in
Is Biblioleaks Inevitable?

In 2014, the vast majority of published biomedical research is still hidden behind paywalls rather than open access. For more than a decade, similar restrictions over other digitally available content have engendered illegal activity. Music file sharing became rampant in the late 1990s as communities formed around new ways to share. The frequency and scale of cyber-attacks against commercial and government interests has increased dramatically. Massive troves of classified government documents have become public through the actions of a few. Yet we have not seen significant growth in the illegal sharing of peer-reviewed academic articles. Should we truly expect that biomedical publishing is somehow at less risk than other content-generating industries? What of the larger threat—a “Biblioleaks” event—a database breach and public leak of the substantial archives of biomedical literature? As the expectation that all research should be available to everyone becomes the norm for a younger generation of researchers and the broader community, the motivations for such a leak are likely to grow. We explore the feasibility and consequences of a Biblioleaks event for researchers, journals, publishers, and the broader communities of doctors and the patients they serve.
In-vitro pharmacodynamic studies of piperacillin/tazobactam with gentamicin and ciprofloxacin.

Six isolates each of Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Citrobacter spp. , Serratia spp. , Acinetobacter spp. and Enterobacter spp. (total 60 strains) were studied against the combination of piperacillin/tazobactam plus gentamicin or ciprofloxacin at physiological concentrations by the microtitre chequerboard method incorporating simultaneous time-kill curves. Tazobactam was fixed at 4 mg/L. Gentamicin plus piperacillin/tazobactam was a synergic combination against 28 strains at 2 h, 51 at 5 h and 54 at 24 h as assessed by time-kill curves and synergic or additive (FBC index < or = 1) against all 60 strains at 24 h by chequerboards. The corresponding figures for ciprofloxacin plus piperacillin/tazobactam were seven, 26, 52 and 58 respectively. Antagonism (FBC index > or = 4) was demonstrated for one strain to each combination at 24 h. There were no significant differences between FIC indices and FBC indices for each antibiotic combination. Gentamicin plus piperacillin/tazobactam gave > or = 3 log kill for 47 strains by 2 h, 56 by 5 h and 59 by 24 h. Ciprofloxacin plus piperacillin/tazobactam gave > or = 3 log kill for 22 strains by 2 h, 36 by 5 h and 56 by 24 h. In conclusion both antibiotic combinations at physiological concentrations were synergic or additive at 24 h for the majority of strains tested although notably gentamicin plus piperacillin/tazobactam gave faster kill. Antagonism was rarely seen. Both combinations are likely to prove beneficial for treatment of serious infections.
Inhibition of Ganciclovir-Susceptible and -Resistant Human Cytomegalovirus Clinical Isolates by the Benzimidazole l-Riboside 1263W94

ABSTRACT The average 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) values for AD169 were 0.22 ± 0.09 μM 1263W94 and 5.36 ± 0.12 μM ganciclovir. For 35 human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) clinical isolates the average IC50 was 0.42 ± 0.09 μM 1263W94, and for 26 ganciclovir-susceptible HCMV clinical isolates the average IC50 was 3.78 ± 1.62 μM ganciclovir. Nine HCMV clinical isolates that were resistant to ganciclovir were completely susceptible to 1263W94.